Shaheen Afridi is unarguably one of the best pacers among the current crop in Pakistan cricket. Making his international debut in 2018, the 22-year-old cricketer has played 25 Tests and scalped 99 wickets, laced with four five-wicket hauls. Shaheen, who can be called the "backbone" of Pakistan's pace unit, has been out of action due to the knee injury, which forced him out of the Asia Cup 2022. Later, he made a comeback in the 2022 T20 World Cup but sustained another injury on his knee during the summit clash. After undergoing a surgery and rehabilitation for months, the speedster is all set to return to the field in the upcoming edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Shaheen will be leading Lahore Qalandars, who will be going up against Multan Sultans in the opening match of the tournament. However, in a recent interview, Shaheen shed some light on his days of rehabilitation, where he was about to quit cricket but he kept himself motivated by watching his own old videos.
“There were times when I wanted to give up. I was working on only one muscle and it was not improving. Often during the rehabilitation sessions, I used to say to myself ‘this is enough, I cannot do this anymore. But then I used to watch my bowling on YouTube and see how well I had done and that motivated me and I told myself ‘to push a little more' … It is frustrating for a fast bowler to miss cricket because of an injury,” said Shaheen on YouTube.
Shaheen has played 32 ODIs and scalped a whopping total of 62 wickets. Apart from this, he has played 47 T20Is and took 58 wickets.
The 2023 edition of the PSL will kick start from February 13 with Shaheen-led Lahore Qalandars taking on Multan Sultans.