Shaheen Afridi: Workload and pay reasons behind decision to focus on T20s instead of Tests

Pakistan’s decision to rest Shaheen Afridi from the third Test against Australia in Sydney has further fueled the debate of player priority towards the longest and oldest format of the game.

Afridi was left out of the squad to manage his workload ahead of a five-match T20 series against New Zealand starting January 12.

It comes just days after South Africa announced a second-string squad for a two-Test series in New Zealand in February, which coincides with their own domestic T20 tournament SA20.

Workload management is common in international cricket, but the players usually are rested from white-ball cricket to prioritise Tests, considered the game’s purest format. Afridi is the first player in Pakistan’s history to be rested from Tests to be able to play T20s, where he captains Pakistan as well as Lahore Qalandars, his franchise in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

The writing has been on the wall for Afridi's Test career since he was named Pakistan’s T20 captain in November. Fitness permitting, the 23-year-old will play most of Pakistan's 16 matches before the T20 World Cup in June. In between that he is also contracted to play the whole PSL and a few games for Desert Vipers at ILT20 in the UAE. It must be noted that while such decisions are based on the feedback of the team management, the players also have their say. When the management wanted to rest Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan from T20s recently, both refused.

With lucrative deals on offer in franchise cricket, players’ interest in Test cricket, particularly outside of Australia, England and India, is diminishing. Afridi’s decision to take a rest from Tests does not appear to be one-off and, considering there isn’t another Pakistan Test tour Down Under in the