It needed some consoling from former captain Babar Azam to Shaheen Afridi for the fast bowler to relax and calm down a bit after the left-arm pacer was getting smashed by David Warner and Usman Khawaja in the first session of the first Test in Perth.
With Naseem Shah injured and Haris Rauf not opting to play Test cricket, this Test series was always going to be challenging for the Pakistani bowling attack – it feels any other scoreline than 3-0 for Australia would be a surprise for everyone.
But how toothless the bowlers looked on Day 1 in Perth, and how comfortably David Warner and Usman Khawaja dominated the proceedings has set the stone for Australia to utterly hammer the visitors.
Pakistan’s bowling attack in Perth, led by Shaheen Afridi, included two debutants – Khurram Shahzad and Aamer Jamal. Even Shaheen was treated like a gully bowler by Warner when the opener cracked him for a six over fine leg with a pick-up scoop shot taking the ball from outside the off-stump. It demoralized Shaheen and he looked frustrated.
It was good to see former captain Babar Azam trying to console the pacer and calm him down, because he’s their main man with the ball and Pakistan need to be at his best throughout the series for any chance to at least taking any positives out of this tour.
A video has gone viral in which Babar Azam can be seen gesturing Shaheen to calm down and focus and not get flustered by the run-scoring by the two Aussie openers.
Video: Babar Azam tries to calm down Shaheen after he got bashed by Warner
Babar Azam trying to Calm down Shaheen Afridi after he’s been smacked by Australian Batters.#AUSvsPAK
— Ehtisham Siddique (@iMShami_) December 14, 2023
Shaheen eventually managed to take Khawaja’s wicket at the start of the second session. This 3-Test series is the retirement series of Warner, who has played 109 Tests before this one.
Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat first.
Teams:
Pakistan (Playing XI): Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood(c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Sarfaraz Ahmed(w), Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Aamer Jamal, Khurram Shahzad
Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
