T20 cricket, who cares? Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis slam Shaheen Shah Afridi’s exclusion from Sydney Test

“Straight after this [Sydney Test] there are five T20s in New Zealand, and Shaheen’s the captain,” Wasim said on Fox Cricket.

“But T20 cricket, who cares? I understand, it’s there for entertainment and it’s there for financial gain for cricket boards, for players, but cricketers should know that Test cricket is the ultimate. ”

“If we talk about what happened 20 years ago in this Test in Sydney, nobody knows what happened last night in T20.

“That’s the difference. These guys have to understand and learn, if you want to be a great of the game or do you want to be a millionaire. You can become both but with a little more sense,” he added.

Waqar Younis, too, echoed Akram’s sentiments and said Shaheen’s absence made him laugh.

“We play for Test match cricket,” Waqar said, talking to Channel 7 on the morning of the first day.

“We don’t play for T20s or one-day cricket. And if you’re missing Test match cricket purely because you are being rested, I do not understand.

“That’s a real shocker for me because I was expecting him to be a part of this Test match because he looked good in the previous match.

“He started feeling like the old Shaheen Afridi and started to swing the ball and the pace was getting better,” he added.

Meanwhile, Shaheen has defended team management’s decision to rest him for third Test.

“I played two games, and a lot of overs to be honest. They’re just managing my workload, the medical team and team management decided to take a rest for this (Test),” he told Channel 7.