Drop Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah & Haris Rauf: Ex-Pakistan captain wants PCB to perform surgery

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) needs to take a tough call and move on from their 3-pronged pace attack of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf in limited-over cricket. This is what former Pakistan cricket team captain Mohammad Hafeez suggests.

Drop Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah & Haris Rauf

Hafeez had worn multiple caps and knows domestic cricket more than most, having served as Pakistan’s team director and interim head coach from late 2023 to early 2024. After yet another failure by the three pacers in the India vs. Pakistan match at the ICC Champions Trophy, the former all-rounder wants the PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi to perform surgery on the team like he had stated last year and chuck the quicks out of the side.

“Since the Asia Cup in 2023, we were expecting this trio of Shaheen, Naseem, and Haris to deliver trophies for us. But they’ve been unsuccessful. The 2023 World Cup and 2022 T20 tournament in Melbourne were disasters. And now, this Champions Trophy, another failure. According to many people, they have skills, but these skills are not enough for them to win Pakistan in the big tournaments. They are not proving themselves capable of helping Pakistan win a big tournament. Let’s move on from them. Let’s bring other people,” Hafeez said on PTV.

What Hafeez says makes sense. All three have been poor for the last couple of years, but in 2025, the performance has taken a massive dip. All three average over 40, their economy is over 6, and they aren’t even taking two wickets combined in one match.

Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah & Haris Rauf ODI stats in 2025

Who will replace Pakistan’s big ‘Pace 3’?

The former Pakistan captain suggested a few players who can take over from them. Stating the fact that since the 2022 T20 World Cup, the three have been struggling to perform in ICC events. At some point, PCB has to look ahead. So before the 2026 T20 World Cup, the next ICC event, he suggests employing a few different players in the team.

“Let’s go with Mohammad Ali, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Akif Javed, and Mir Hamza. These guys are waiting for their chances. Let’s see what happens if we play them. They are also Pakistani; they also have a Pakistani passport,” Hafeez added.