Key Points

The pacer remained wicketless in the team’s recently concluded game against arch-rivals India on Sunday and conceded 40 runs in 3.5 overs as the Men in Blue clinched a six-wicket win in the Super Four encounter.

Kaneria believes that Shaheen should not play across all formats and opt out of one or two to focus on his bowling. He also suggested the pacer go on a vacation and relax in order to make a comeback.

“Age is one thing, but PCB can not have him play all three formats. They have to decide which formats he'll play. I think he should make a decision, saying something like 'Okay, I'll play only T20 and ODI.' He shouldn't play Test cricket, because he doesn't do much in that format,” Kaneria told IANS on Monday.

“I think he should take a month-long break from cricket. Go on a vacation, relax and come back. He faded out a bit. Neither spin nor pace is working, and it feels like he's not enjoying his cricket. I think he needs a break, a couple of months probably. If you play a lot of cricket, you tend to become stale. You need a break to come back,” he added.

Pakistan batted well and asked India to chase a challenging 172-run total. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side made easy work of the target, courtesy of openers Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma.

While Sharma scored 74 off 39 deliveries, studded with six fours and five sixes, the vice-captain notched eight fours during his knock of 47 off 28. Their wickets derailed India’s momentum, but Tilak Varma kept his side in the game and finished off the chase with a six and a four as India bagged their first win in the Super 4s.

Kaneria further opined that had Abhishek remained unbeaten, India would ve finished the chase earlier. "Had Abhishek not gotten out, the match would've finished sooner. He played sensibly. Pakistani bowlers are so dumb. Abhishek came forward to hit Shaheen for boundaries. That kid thought so brilliantly. He's trained from Yuvraj Singh, a legend, and that was visible," he said.

The former spinner further pointed out that Afridi lacks the ability to guess the batters' mentality.

"Abhishek knew how Shaheen would bowl, but Shaheen failed to judge Abhishek's tactics. That's the difference. Shaheen has been playing for quite a long time now, and Abhishek is so new to the setup, but still he knows how bowlers' mentality works. Shaheen doesn't have the ability to guess the batters' mentality," he concluded.

- IANS