Haren
Pakistan ace-pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi’s form in recent times has been up and down. He was even demoted in his Pakistan Central Contract from A to B. However, his recent performance in the three-match ODI series against Australia has been a testament to what the left arm can achieve when he is bowling at full throttle. He picked eight wickets at an average of 12.62.
The 24-year-old’s recent performances have taken him back to the first spot in the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings on Wednesday, overtaking South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj. Afridi held the position for a brief period mid-way through the 2023 ODI World Cup hosted in India.
In addition, Afridi, his colleague Haris Rauf too has gone up 14 places to 13th which is the highest in his career since his debut in the format. Rauf was awarded the Player Of the Series for his 10-wicket showing in the same series that Pakistan managed to win after 22 years.
Demoted in central contracts
Afridi and Rauf have been demoted in rank in their Pakistan central contracts. The former who was an A-category player before has been pushed down to B while the latter has been pushed to C from B.
Earlier in the year Afridi was alleged of non-cooperative attitude in the T20 World Cup 2024 co-hosted by the West Indies and the USA where The Men in Green were out of the competition in the group stage.
Afridi was dropped after the first Test against Bangladesh and the first Test against England. Shaheen was also made the captain after the 2023 ODI World Cup however, was stripped of it after one series loss against New Zealand.
Haris Rauf on the other hand has refused to play the series Test against Australia in December 2023 when his central contract was terminated initially and was restored later. He later was also given NOC to play Big Bash League.
