Pakistan players are not part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) due to political tension between the two countries.
They only played in the first edition in 2008 and there have been numerous calls to add them as the Men in Green have top players like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan and Shaheen Afridi.
According to India’s veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, the 22-year-old Shaheen would have fetched a very lucrative contract had he been a part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction.
“I have thought a lot about how crazy it would have been if Shaheen Afridi had been there in an IPL auction. A tall left-arm seamer who sets the game with the new ball and also unleashes yorkers at the death. He might have gone for 14-15 crore had he been there at the IPL auction,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Pakistan are without Shaheen due to knee injury in the Asia Cup but Ashwin highlighted that despite Shaheen Afridi’s absence, Pakistan have a lot of impressive fast bowlers in their lineup.
“All Pakistani fast bowlers clock 140-145 kph consistently. I don’t think any team in world cricket has such a rich backup of fast bowlers. Pakistan have always been a side with so much raw talent on display.”
Meanwhile, Ashwin also spoke about Imad Wasim’s absence from the Pakistan squad for the continental event.
“Imad Wasim is a notable exclusion from Pakistan’s squad. He has been a regular feature for them in the T20 format. But he is not there this time. Instead, they have gone for Mohammad Nawaz, who is very much like Ravindra Jadeja.”
It must be noted that Ashwin is part of the India’s squad for Asia Cup 2022, however, he was not preferred for the first two games against Pakistan and Hong Kong.
