According to reports, Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi decided to skip the upcoming edition of The Hundred, the league 100-ball format in England. It is seen as a major blow to the tournament and its future.
The left-arm pacer was involved in the recent four-match T20I series against England, as a preparation for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. The marquee event is to be co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America (USA).
Shaheen Shah Afridi has been a huge member of the competition, and was re-signed by his franchise- Walsh Fire in the category of £100,000. That’s the second-highest band of the tournament history. He has been part of six games for the side in the 2023 season.
Shaheen Afridi shows interest towards Global T20 Canada
The move from the former Pakistan T20 captain, Shaheen Afridi has come after the Global T20 Canada league has shown their wish to sign the pacer. The league clashes with the Hundred in the time period, and given its very short and sharp league, spanning for a couple of weeks, Afridi could spend much more time at home with his family.
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Even though he has already withdrawn from the Hundred 2025, the left-arm fast bowler is yet to be officially signed with the Global T20 Canada.
During the 2023 season too, Shaheen Afridi missed the Hundred season due to injury, as the clubs lined up Lockie Ferguson as the replacement.
The absence of Sheen Shah from this new edition of the 100-ball tournament will be a huge blow to its future, given he is one of the most renowned and marketable players of world cricket at the moment. Afridi’s skill of generating swing with a high pace makes him so lethal.
In the last T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia too, Afridi played a huge role in helping Pakistan reach the final, and becoming the runners-up to England. He was the fourth-highest wicket-taker of the competition with 11 scalps in seven games at an average of 14.09 and an economy of 6.15, with a best figure of 4/22.
When it comes to the T20I cricket history, Shaheen Afridi has picked up 91 wickets in 66 games at an economy of 7.73, while his record in all the T20s, have been quite phenomenal with 276 scalps in 191 games at an economy of 7.91, and a best of 6/19.
The Hundred has already received so much concern from the various franchise T20 tournaments and one of them is how the Major League Cricket (MLC) has worked. The likes of Rashid Khan, Dwayne Bravo, Faf Du Plessis, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Devon Conway and other have already made them available for the competition.
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This move has come on the back of the team’s partnership with few of the teams in the Indian Premier League. The MLC will be played from July 05 to 28, while the Hundred will run between July 23 to August 18, means few of those players, after playing the whole T20 World Cup and the MLC, if finds energy, could turn to England for a short period.
This USA league has already increased their teams from six to ten in the next summer, while the GT20 Canada, has allowed private investment, which enables some of the elite players to enjoy more than they would in England’s the Hundred.