Pakistan’s pacer Shaheen Afridi has been grabbing the limelight for all the wrong reasons of late. Things have only gone downhill for him this year so far.

The year started controversially for him as he faced harsh criticism for not playing the Sydney Test against Australia. This was followed by a forgettable debut series as Pakistan captain in the T20Is as his side suffered a 4-1 defeat against New Zealand.

After that, he also had a disastrous campaign in the Pakistan Super League where his team, Lahore Qalandars, won just one match and finished at the bottom. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sacked him as T20I captain after just one series and reinstated Babar Azam. Shaheen Afridi’s performance has also not been up to the mark.

The left-arm spinner has struggled to live up to expectations in recent times, especially at the T20 World Cup last month where he managed to pick up just 2 wickets in the first three games before taking 3 wickets in the final group game when Pakistan were already eliminated from the tournament.

Shaheen Afridi breaks the silence:

Things got worse for Shaheen Afridi after reports surfaced about his alleged argument with batting coach Mohammad Yousuf. The fast bowler had reportedly misbehaved with the coach during the tour of England. Reports in the Pakistani media indicated that the PCB was not happy with Afridi’s misconduct and was ready to take disciplinary action against him.

The report stated that the star player is unlikely to be considered for the upcoming home Test series against Bangladesh. And he finally broke his silence on the reports, saying that he is not aware of them. He claimed that he is not focused on the reports and just wants to play cricket with dignity.

“I don’t know if I’m being eliminated from the test series. [against Bangladesh]”My role is to play cricket and I will do it with dignity,” Shaheen Afridi said, according to A Sports.

Meanwhile, Afridi was recently denied a No Objection Certificate by the PCB to play in the Global T20 Canada. Along with him, players like Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam were also denied the NOC No Objection Certificate. It will now be interesting to see the PCB’s decision regarding Afridi’s place in the Test squad for the upcoming series against Bangladesh.