PSL 9: Azhar Ali strongly criticizes Shaheen Afridi's captaincy

Lahore Qalandars faced a setback in the seventh match of PSL season nine against Multan Sultans on Wednesday.

During a discussion on a local sports channel, former cricketer Ali Azhar highlighted concerns regarding Lahore's performance, attributing it to the absence of leg-spinner Rashid Khan and what he perceived as poor captaincy from Shaheen Afridi.

“I think Shaheen Afridi’s captaincy and Lahore’s bowling has been exposed. The absence of Rashid Khan is clearly hurting Lahore since they no longer have the comfort he provided to the other bowlers in the middle overs,” Azhar said.

Azhar noted a lack of coordination between bowlers and the captain, citing instances where strategies seemed disjointed, such as bowling leg-side to batters with fine leg up and third man in the circle when bowling off-stump.

“When new batter Iftikhar came out to bat, they bowled leg-side to him even when fine leg was up. On the other hand, when they bowled on off-stump, the third man was up in the circle. This shows that there was no coordination between the bowler and captain," he further added.

Furthermore, Azhar expressed disappointment in the bowling performances of Shaheen and Haris Rauf, suggesting that Lahore might face difficulties with limited resources as the tournament progresses.

“Shaheen and Haris have not been bowling well. I think, gradually, Lahore will realise how difficult things are when you have limited resources," he concluded.