Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi is eager to return to the longest format of cricket as in a recent video he could be seen practising with the red ball just ahead of the Test series against Sri Lanka.
The 23-year-old young speedster last featured in a Test match against Sri Lanka at Galle in July 2022.
“Red ball has a different vibe. #TestMatch,” Shaheen tweeted on his Twitter profile with an emoji of a red ball.
Earlier, it was reported that Shaheen was likely to miss the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.
According to sources, the lanky pacer could be rested, due to workload management ahead of the World Cup this year, during next month’s assignment.
Sri Lanka Cricket will announce the schedule of the two-match Test series, which is part of the ICC World Test Championship, soon.
Shaheen is currently playing in England’s T20 Blast for Nottinghamshire, where has claimed 13 wickets in nine matches.
The lanky pacer said the benefit of the experience of playing league cricket is that he can share the knowledge gained with other players too when he will return home.
“We play with and against such players who perform at the international level too. So it becomes easier to plan the way I should be bowling to them later on,” Shaheen told Geo News last month.
“So it’s good for the personal experience but also will be helpful to enhance my performance which will indeed be very beneficial later on for the World Cup preparations and to build a good momentum before that,” he added.
It must be noted that Pakistan will participate in the World Cup in India in October-November this year.
Pakistan’s proposed World Cup schedule:
— Pakistan vs Qualifier, Oct 6, Hyderabad
— Pakistan vs Qualifier, Oct 12, Hyderabad
— Pakistan vs India, Oct 15, Ahmedabad
— Pakistan vs Australia, Oct 20, Bengaluru
— Pakistan vs Afghanistan, Oct 23, Chennai
— Pakistan vs South Africa, Oct 27, Chennai
— Pakistan vs Bangladesh, Oct 31, Kolkata
— Pakistan vs New Zealand, Nov 5, Bengaluru
— Pakistan vs England, Nov 12, Kolkata
