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Shaheen Afridi left the Lankan Premier League 2026 (LPL 2026) after an utterly disappointing season with the Kandy Royals. As per reports, the Pakistan National Cricket Team fast bowler left the franchise league citing personal issues. Afridi joined Kandy Royals with a lot of expectations, leaving only disappointment behind.
In 6 matches, he took only 7 wickets, conceding 224 runs in total with an economy rate over 10. After the match against Jaffna Kings, the star pacer left the league unceremoniously. The Pakistan pacer was positioned as one of the mainstays of Kandy Royals because of his calibre and experience in international cricket and across franchise leagues.
🚨 SHAHEEN AFRIDI LEAVES LPL. 🚨
— Sheri. (@CallMeSheri1_) August 1, 2026
- Shaheen Afridi has left LPL 2026 due to personal reasons. pic.twitter.com/uPnMhnOfOH
Shaheen Afridi leaves Lankan Premier League silently
While fans and the franchise were expecting effective bowling from him, Shaheen barely produced anything significant during the brief stint with Royals. In the five-team franchise league, Kandy Royals are currently situated at the fourth position with only three wins and five defeats in 8 matches.
In those eight matches, Shaheen was dropped twice from the playing combination. In his last match for the Royals, which was against the Jaffna Kings on July 30, the bowler leaked 43 runs in 3 overs without taking a single wicket, for an economy rate of 14.33. The high-scoring match ended with Jaffna as the winner by 21 runs, successfully defending 221.
Shaheen's bowling performance for the Kandy Royals in LPL 2026:
Vs Dambulla Sixers: 3-0-41-1.
Match 2: Dropped.
Vs Dambulla Sixers: 4-0-32-1.
Vs Colombo Kaps: 4-0-34-2.
Match 5: Dropped.
Vs Jaffna Kings: 4-0-27-3.
Vs Galle Gallants: 4-0-47-0.
Vs Jaffna Kings: 3-0-43-0.
A controversial Lankan Premier League season for Shaheen Afridi
For Shaheen, his LPL 2026 season was controversial as he wanted to leave the team and the league on an immediate basis, as the franchise was accused of breaking their promise.
Reports from Sri Lanka, when the league was at its initial stage, suggested that the officials of the Kandy Royals assured Shaheen Afridi that he would be included in the playing combination as an 'Impact Player' during a match against Colombo Capitals. But surprisingly, Shaheen found that his name was not on the list of players who were named to take part in the match.
Shaheen Afridi went to the anti-corruption official to report against Kandy Royals
Amid allegations of match-fixing in the Lankan Premier League involving Jaffna Kings owner Manjot Kalra, Shaheen rushed to the anti-corruption official to report his surprising exclusion from the players' list for the match against Capitals. According to media reports, Afridi was so upset and furious with the incident that he immediately wanted to leave the franchise as well as the league.
He scrapped his plans to leave the league after the league officials and Kandy Royals issued an apology to him.
However, his presence did not prove fruitful for the team, and he is now uncertain to be retained by the franchise for the next season due to his poor performance with the ball.
