Former Pakistan pace greats Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis criticised the decision to rest fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi in the third and final Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), with Akram warning players to decide if they want to be the greats of their sport or a millionaire by playing T20 cricket.
After Pakistan lost the series 2-0, Shaheen has been rested from the final Test at Sydney, which is also Australia opener David Warner's farewell Test.
Wasim claimed that decision "had nothing to do with the management" and was "solely [Shaheen's] decision". He warned players to decide "if you want to be a great of the game or do you want to be a millionaire" while prioritising formats. "Straight after this there are five T20s in New Zealand, and Shaheen's the captain," Wasim said on Fox Cricket as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. "But T20 cricket, who cares?
I understand, it is there for entertainment and it is 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.