Shan Masood breaks silence on dropping Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah after Bangladesh humbling

Pakistan's captain Shan Masood has backed the team management's decision to drop Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah from the second Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi. Both the fast bowlers were part of the first Test of the series.

In a surprise move, Pakistan decided to go without their frontline fast bowlers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah.

While Shaheen was given some time to work on a few things (according to the head coach Jason Gillespie), Naseem Shah's drop before the second Test came in as a big surprise.

Both the fast bowlers have been Pakistan's best bowlers in all the formats over the last few years. However, their performance has been on a decline for the last year or so.

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Shan Masood backs Pakistan's decision to drop Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah

After the defeat in the second Test against Bangladesh, Shan Masood backed his team to make a comeback after learning from their mistakes.

He claimed that consistency in the selection process is important if they want to succeed.

"Like I said, it's never doom and gloom. You always keep trying, you always come back. You always learn from your mistakes and you try and give people a chance. And I think that we're heading in the right direction. We have been consistent with selection, we had Khurram, Mohammad Ali, and Mir Hamza play this Test series," Shan Masood said in the post-match presentation.

The 34-year-old further reasoned why Shaheen Afridi and Nasheem Shah were dropped from the match.

He added that both the quicks play all the formats and it's important to rest them. The Pakistan captain also insisted on building up the bowling stocks for the future.

"We are trying to keep consistency with red ball performances as well. We've got Shaheen (Afridi) and Naseem (Shah) back in the fold as well. We can't be harsh on them because they're playing all three formats. If Shaheen has played consistently for a year, you can't just throw them in every game. And you have to build up your stocks as well. So we've got a lot to look at," Masood added.

Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah's declining form

Since the Asia Cup last year, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah have been struggling for form. While Shaheen had a middling ODI World Cup 2023 campaign with 18 wickets at an average of 26.72, Naseem Shah was out of the tournament due to injury.

Both the star fast bowlers were expected to play a key role in the Pakistan T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, but could not take their team past the group stage. While Shaheen claimed 5 wickets in 4 matches in the tournament, Naseem Shah picked up 5 wickets in 3 matches.

In the first Test match against Bangladesh recently, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah took the new ball for Pakistan. While Naseem started well, his penetration and pace kept on declining as the ball got old. He picked up 3-93 in the first innings.

On the other hand, Shaheen Afridi had an even more disappointing outing with the ball. Afridi picked up 2-88 and both of his wickets were of the tailenders. Pakistan suffered badly due to their poor form as they lost the Test match by 10 wickets.