Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has returned to Kandy Royals for the Lanka Premier League (LPL) playoffs.
The left-arm pacer will support the Kandy Royals team for the knockout stage with the other Pakistan players Khushdil Shah and Hasan Nawaz.
The team has brought the trio into the squad ahead of the playoffs and has brought them in to replace Moeen Ali, Sediqullah Atal and Brandon McMullen.
The LPL playoff is set to kick off on August 5 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, with the Kandy Royals hoping to improve their prospects with the inclusion of the experienced Pakistani players.
Shaheen had dropped out of the tournament earlier and came back to Pakistan yesterday because of personal reasons.
Read more: Why Shaheen Afridi was dropped from Pakistan’s test squad?
The return is the latest after a controversial phase of the league game, in which he complained about his omission against the Colombo Capitals.
The Kandy Royals management had already told Shaheen prior to the match on July 19th that he would be one of the impact players.
In the competition, under the impact player rule, a nominated player can replace a player in the playing XI and will be allowed to bat or bowl in the match for a maximum of four overs, but will no longer be a part of the playing XI.
Shaheen’s name was not included on the official team sheet and thus was unable to participate in the game. The omission had caused disappointment for the Pakistan bowler.
The Kandy Royals management then issued a statement to apologise to Shaheen Afridi for his omission from the official list, which was a mistake by the team’s analyst.
After that, Shaheen has finally returned to the team as Kandy Royals move towards the critical playoff phase.
Also read: Shaheen Afridi joins Kandy Royals for Lanka Premier League