'I placed my hand on...' - Pakistan skipper Shan Masood clarifies on rift with Shaheen Afridi during Bangladesh series

There has been a lot of criticism regarding Pakistan's team unity and culture. Even during the Bangladesh series, there were several reports regarding the ongoing rift in the Pakistan dressing room, where the players formed groups and were ignorant of management's suggestions. Plus, a video went viral where skipper Shan Masood kept his hand on Shaheen Afridi's shoulder, but the bowler removed his hand which sparked controversy. 

Clearing the air out, Shan Masood, in a recent interview, said that there's no rift going on between the players. Moreover, Afridi was injured, and he kept his hand on the injured shoulder, which caused him to remove it. "There was no fight with Shaheen Afridi. He was feeling pain in the shoulder, and unfortunately, I placed my hand on the same shoulder," said Shan Masood. 

When there is no unity!

There is no will!#PAKvsBAN pic.twitter.com/G4m2sjLyyC

— Shaharyar Azhar (@azhar_shaharyar) August 25, 2024

After Shaheen Afridi was sacked from captaincy, Babar Azam was brought back as white-ball captain; the Pakistan team faced a lot of internal struggle. Even after the T20 World Cup 2024, coach Gary Kirstein talked about the team's atmosphere and how the players weren't respecting the team management. He spoke about groupism and players' behaviour towards each other during the tournament.

He's working really well with Azhar Mahmood: Coach Jason Gillespie

Pakistan's coach Jason Gillespie shed light on Shaheen Shah Afridi's exclusion from the 2nd Test match against Bangladesh. Jason said Afridi was given certain feedback, which he perceived well and understood the intention behind the exclusion. Shaheen only took one wicket in the first Test match, and his line and length weren't perfect either. Hence, he was dropped from the team, but that didn't help much, as Pakistan lost the 2nd game due to their bowling disaster. 

"Shaheen's missed out on this game. We've had a good conversation with him, and he fully understands and appreciates the thinking behind it. Shaheen's been given some feedback. He's working on some things with his bowling to be as effective as he possibly can be. He's working really well with Azhar Mahmood. We want to see Shaheen at his best because we've got a lot of cricket in all formats and Shaheen's going to play a really big role in that.," said coach Jason Gillespie.