Shaheen Afridi’s “shoulder shrug” incident was clarified by Shan Masood: “He was not angry.”

Shan Masood, the captain of Pakistan, spoke about a few events involving himself and Shaheen Afridi during the just finished Test series against Bangladesh that had sparked rumours of friction between the two legendary players.

The left-arm pacer appeared to brush off Masood’s hand during a mid-match team meeting in a widely shared video, which became one of the most talked-about occurrences. Regarding the event, Masood clarified that Afridi had taken off his hand since the bowler had sustained an injury there.

There isn’t much else to say. Shaheen dismissed what I believe to have been an event in which I placed my hands on his shoulder. He didn’t feel upset with me.

At the press conference following the game, Masood stated, “I had touched that exact spot and Nahid Rana had hit him.” Masood and Gillespie were at odds, saying, “I was arguing we needed better ball after umpires replaced it.”

In a another instance, Shan Masood appeared to lash out at Afridi after the latter had acknowledged a boundary. Nonetheless, the former claimed that his anger was not intended at Afridi but rather at head coach Jason Gillespie for not using an older ball during the game.

“My anger at Jason Gillespie was the next one. However, it wasn’t the case. Litton had hit a shot, and our ball had gone into the stands. That ball had eight overs on it. We noted that the ball was significantly older—18 to 19 overs old—when the umpires replaced it, and I argued that we needed a better ball. Later, I heard whispers about Shaheen’s resignation. In order to avoid using social media while watching matches, Masood continued.

The first Test, which Bangladesh won by ten wickets, was played by Afridi. The 24-year-old took two wickets throughout the game, but he didn’t appear to be playing at his most dangerous.

Also Read: WTC Final 2025: Qualification scenarios for India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan

At the second and final Test, Pakistan took a risk by not including their most seasoned pacer in their playing XI. This, however, did not aid Pakistan’s case as they lost their first-ever Test series against Bangladesh, losing by six wickets.