Imran Khan and Wasim Akram used to bowl more overs in the nets: Shoaib Akhtar believes Shaheen Afridi need not be rested

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said that bowling legends like Imran Khan and Wasim Akram used to bowl more overs in the net than Shaheen in recent time

Workload management is a policy that has been used increasingly by cricket boards around the world. England and India, to take a few names, do it regularly to prevent injuries by putting excess workload on a player. Currently, Pakistan are mulling over it and former speedster Shoaib Akhtar thinks the team management need not worry about shedding Shaheen Afridi's workload.

Shoaib Akhtar (left) and Shaheen Afridi (right). (HT collage)

After Pakistan defeated Zimbabwe in the Test series, numerous pundits and former players, like Inzamam -ul-Haq, have come out in support of the policy and urged the board to manage Afridi's workload in order to maintain him as an-all format bowler.

However, Akhtar, speaking on a local TV channel as quoted by Cricketpakistan.com, said that bowling legends like Imran Khan and Wasim Akram used to bowl more overs in the nets than Shaheen in recent times

"He [Shaheen] would have bowled around 90 overs in his T20I career so far. In his last eight Test matches, he would have bowled around 150 overs. Is he tired already? Is it too much workload? Stop bringing workload concerns again and again with regards to Shaheen Afridi. Imran Khan and Wasim Akram used to bowl more overs than him in the nets alone," said Akhtar.

The left-arm pacer played both the Tests in Zimbabwe. Reportedly, he was offered to rest but the bowler turned down the opportunity.

Out-of-favor pacer Junaid Khan, who last featured for Pakistan in 2019, remarked that Shaheen opted against sitting out in order to avoid losing his place.

"Shaheen definitely needs rest. The management needs to make sure he doesn’t bowl a lot during the net sessions. Shaheen probably doesn’t want to rest himself because he might have fear of losing his place to a youngster, who might perform in his place," Junaid Khan said in an interview with CricketPakistan.com

Shaheen has been a regular member of the Pakistan squad in all three formats. In 17 Tests, he has bagged 58 wickets. In 25 ODIs and T20Is each, Shaheen has claimed 51 and 27 wickets, respectively.

Pakistan recently romped to victory against Zimbabwe in the two-match Test series, winning both matches by a margin of an innings. Shaheen Afridi bowled 60 overs across two Tests, picking up 10 wickets at an average of 16.40.