Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi appeared to struggle on Day 2 of the first AUS vs PAK Test match in Perth. Despite bowling on a wicket famous for its pace and bounce, Afridi struggled to get wickets.
Overall, he bowled 27 overs for 96 runs on the second day and picked up just one wicket. Australia scored 487 and David Warner scored 164 runs off 211 balls with 16 fours and four sixes.
Pakistan returned to Australian shores for the first time in four years. They were whitewashed in 2019 and are certainly on the back foot in this first Test match.
Meanwhile, Umar Gul and Ravi Shastri criticized Shaheen Afridi and her recent struggles. While Shaheen Afridi took only one wicket, his fellow pacer Aamer Jamal took six for 111, including the wicket of Warner.
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Hopefully he plays with pace in the second innings: Umar Gul on Shaheen Afridi
Talking about Shaheen Afridi, Umar Gul said that his lack of bowling experience in red-ball cricket and not bowling for long periods is the reason why he seems to struggle in the format.
“Shaheen used to bowl at 140 kilometers per hour in [white-bal cricket]. However, when you move from white-ball cricket to red-ball cricket, you first find your rhythm. As they play red ball cricket after a long time, their body gets tired quickly and they are not used to bowling for long periods. It will take time for our players to get into rhythm and play at a good pace. Hopefully, in the second innings you will see them bowl with more pace,” Gul said.
After Australia were bowled out for 487, Pakistan in their first innings scored 132/2 in 53 overs. Abdullah Shafique scored 48 while captain Shan Masood scored 30. Imam-Ul-Haq is unbeaten on 38 and Khurram Shahzad unbeaten on 7.
Alex Carey after the second day’s game talked about the state of the game. He said they would like to cross 500 while picking a couple more wickets at the end of the playing day.
“We probably would have liked to have had a couple of wickets, but we are happy with the score we got (487). We need to come back tomorrow and attack the right areas once again. “We probably got a little lost, we’ll chat tonight and get better tomorrow,” Carey said.
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