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Pakistan’s white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten has expressed his concerns over the workload of star pacer Shaheen Afridi, who is currently playing in the Champions Trophy, a pentangular 50-over tournament organished by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Shaheen is leading the Lions, one of the five teams in the tournament. While commentating on a match between the Lions and the Panthers, Kirsten highlighted the immense pressure fast bowlers endure when playing across all formats. Kirsten emphasised the need to rotate bowlers in order to keep the top players fit for the big tournaments.

Kirsten also shared an “alarming stat” about Shaheen, where he claimed that the latter has bowled “three times more” than any other bowler in the world.

“Fast bowlers are always under immense pressure to deliver and win games. When we look at our key resources, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah have carried the bulk of the workload for Pakistan across all formats. Shaheen has bowled three times more overs than any other fast bowler in the world over the last 18 months. That’s alarming-you’re bound to wear him down eventually,” Kirsten was heard as saying on air.

Meanwhile, Shaheen was rested for the second Test of a two-match series against Bangladesh, which Pakistan lost earlier this month as the visitor’s claimed a historic Test series win.

Shaheen will be in action for Pakistan next month, with England set to tour the country for three Tests.

Pakistan’s white and red ball head coaches Gary Kirsten and Jason Gillespie have advised the country’s cricket board against changing the captains in haste after recent shoddy performances across formats.

Babar Azam was sacked from white ball captaincy after 2023 ODI World Cup round robin exit in India and his replacement Shaheen Shah Afridi was removed after one bad series. Similarly in Tests, after Babar resigned, Shan Masood was named captain but after 0-2 Test series defeat to Bangladesh, there are calls for his immediate ouster.

A PCB source however told PTI that recent media speculations about Masood and Babar’s sacking is nothing more than kite flying.

“There has been no discussion on changing the captains as the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has left it up to the two coaches and selectors to decide on the captaincy,” he said.

“And Kirsten and Gillespie are very clear that Shan and Babar both need to be given a proper run before judging their leadership abilities,” the source added.

(With PTI Inputs)

Pakistan Test head coach Jason Gillespie has backed Australia to beat India in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, citing the strength of their bowling quartet — Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon. India enter this year’s series riding high on their dominance in recent Border-Gavaskar contests, having won the last four series encounters, including two historic series wins on Australian soil in 2018-19 and 2020-21. Australia have not won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series since 2014-15, when they won 2-0 on home soil.

“They are the best bowlers in the country. Their records speak for themselves. This quartet, including Nathon Lyon, is the best possible bowling attack that Australia can put out in the park. I will be backing them in and I am sure they can do the job,” Gillespie said on Fox Sports.

Australia’s last Test series win on Indian soil dates back to 2004-05. They failed to clinch the trophy in the four-Test meeting last year after losing the series 2-1.

“India, they are red-hot, they have been playing some wonderful Test cricket for a while now. Even though they have beaten Australia in recent times. I think Australia have a chance to beat India this time around,” he added.

There has been much debate about whether Steve Smith should continue opening for Australia or return to the middle order. Gillespie believes the veteran batter should bat at No. 4 for the team.

Smith, who was promoted to open the innings with Usman Khawaja after David Warner’s retirement earlier this year, has had mixed outings. Smith has averaged 28.50 in four Tests, contrary to his overall average of 56.97.

The right-handed batter has been the backbone of Australia’s batting line-up for more than a decade but the dismal run at the top of the order is a worrying sign for the team.

“David Warner has been the wonder player for Australia in the format for a long time. Players like Warner are pretty tough to replace. I didn’t mind the idea of Steve Smith going up in the order. I have a feeling that he might have a slot back in the middle order to bat at 4.

“I think, whether they go back to domestic cricket and reward performance at the top of the order from the number of players who’ve done well, or if they feel that there’s six batters they have then Travis Head is possibly the option that they go to.

“If Travis did get that opportunity, I think he will grab it with both hands. But he has done really well in the middle order for Australia and that counterattacking role… So, I suppose Australia would lose that in a sense, but what they would get someone probably similar to David Warner,” said Gillespie.

The 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy will see India and Australia squaring off in the all-important five-match series at Perth, Adelaide (pink-ball game), Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, respectively.

The first Test between India and Australia will be played in Perth from November 22.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)