"My priority has always been Test cricket"- Shaheen Afridi opens up on reason for missing the third Test against Australia

Pakistan's newly-appointed T20I captain Shaheen Afridi claimed that he didn't have any injury and explained why he wasn't a part of Pakistan's playing XI for the third Test against Australia in Sydney last week.

Shaheen spoke about how workload management made the think tank as well as the medical team advise him to sit out the Sydney Test. He claimed that he would have certainly played a role if the series win was still on the cards.

Here's what Shaheen Afridi told reporters ahead of the T20I series against New Zealand:

"I am completely fit so there are no problems with that. I had bowled a bit too much in the first two Tests and there was so much fatigue that the team management and the medical panel wanted to avoid any chance of an injury. Even if there was a chance of a series win and I was 50-50, I would have played because country comes first. My priority has always been Test cricket."

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Babar and Riwan will be Pakistan's best opening pair: Shaheen Afridi

There have been several reports that Babar Azam will be batting in the middle order while vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan will open with Saim Ayub in T20Is. However, Shaheen Afridi stated that Pakistan will look to experiment and find proper roles for the XI in the build-up to the T20 World Cup 2024.

Here's what he had to say:

"Babar and Rizwan will always be the best opening pair for Pakistan. I think we have 17 matches before the World Cup, and we should try different combinations and try to figure out which player fits in which position and we will try to play them [in that position]. There might be some changes, or maybe not. But the effort will be to have the team combination ready before England tour. In the four T20s against England before T20 World Cup, we should know our best playing XI."

Pakistan's first of the five T20Is against New Zealand will be played at Eden Park on Friday, January 12.