Are Shaheen Afridi, wife Ansha expecting first child?

KARACHI: Pakistan's left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi will be becoming a father as his wife Ansha is expecting their first child.

The revelation was made by the national side's red-ball coach Jason Gillispie who said: "Shaheen can miss Bangaladesh Test matches due to childbirth. We can give him [some] rest if he wants to stay with his wife till then."

The couple's nikah was solemnised in February 2023 at the Zakaria Mosque in Karachi. However, their wedding and valima took place later in September last year.

The wedding ceremony was held on September 19 at a local hotel in Karachi and was attended by various current and former cricketers including Babar Azam and former cricketers including Misbah-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwer, Sohail Khan, and Tanveer Ahmed and others.

Whereas, the valima was held in Islamabad on September 21.

The pacer's expected unavailability for the national side comes as the Green Shirts are set to take on Bangladesh in a two-match Test series in August.

Shaheen has been recently in the limelight following the revelations that he misbehaved with the coaches and management staff.

Sources say that the pacer had indulged in arguments with batting coach Mohammad Yousuf during Pakistan’s tour to England, just before the T20 World Cup 2024.

Prior to that, the star player had also become the talk of the town owing to the national side's captaincy saga wherein he was replaced by Babar as the white-ball skipper in March.

He then went on to turn down the vice-captaincy role offered to him by the Pakistan Cricket Board for the recently concluded T20 World Cup.