Rested Shaheen left to spectate counterpart's latest masterclass

Aside from relief at not having to face the deluge of bouncers aimed at the heads of Pakistan's lower-order, Shaheen Shah Afridi might have felt other emotions as he watched his pace counterpart Pat Cummins deliver his latest Test bowling masterclass on Wednesday.

Following on from his player-of-the-match performance at the MCG last week, Cummins took his third consecutive five-for on the first day of the SCG Test to have Pakistan teetering at 9-227 before late heroics from Aamir Jamal (82) lifted the visitors to a competitive 313.

But when Shaheen should have been attempting to replicate Cummins' potency by snagging a victim of his own late on day one, the left-armer was instead watching on from the visitors' viewing area as Sajid Khan bowled the only over at the Aussies before stumps.

Had the contentious decision to rest the 23-year-old from this final NRMA Insurance Test not been made, Shaheen surely would have been thrown the ball instead of the recalled off-spinner for the solitary over before stumps.

Shaheen's absence leaves Australia facing an attack shorn of four of Pakistan's five leading Test wicket takers over the past three years.

In addition to their most prolific bowler during that period, Shaheen, they are also without spinners Noman Ali (appendicitis), Abrar Ahmed (leg injury) and gun speedster Naseem Shah (shoulder injury). Of their five leading wicket takers since the start of 2021, only Hasan Ali is playing in Sydney.

The equivalent handicap for Australia would be if they were forced to play with only one of Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood or Scott Boland. 

On a larger scale, the absence of one of the game's most exciting players is a blow for a format fighting for its future.

"I played two games and a lot of overs and, to be honest, they're just managing my workload and the medical team and team management decided to take a rest for this," Shaheen told Channel Seven at the lunch break.

How Shaheen truly felt about sitting out a Test match despite no major physical ailment being disclosed must be left up to the imagination.

But seeing Cummins, who Shaheen is among the few bowlers on the planet that can rival for pace, skill and precision, continue his seemingly unstoppable rise must have, at the very least, left him a little wistful.

At a basic level, the two bowlers share in common the tag of being their team's attack leader, reflected in the fact their overs tallies through the first two Tests of this series (Cummins 64, Shaheen 99.2) were the most for their respective teams’ fast-bowling contingents.

But an even more pertinent trait Shaheen shares with Cummins – one that makes his omission even harder to reconcile – is the recognition that he is one of only a few of his kind in world cricket who has the mettle to take on a significant leadership post.

The common wisdom that fast bowlers cannot be captains has been roundly dismissed by Cummins having taken his team to Test and ODI world titles over the past six months while seeing no notable dip in his returns with the ball.

Although it was too soon for Shaheen to be considered a candidate to succeed Babar Azam as Test captain when the batter’s reign abruptly ended before this tour, his skippering of the Lahore Qalandars to the last two Pakistan Super League titles was enough for Pakistan to see fit to elevate him to the role of captain of their men's T20 team.

Whether the fact Shaheen's first series in his new job begins just five days after the Sydney Test is scheduled to finish was a factor in him being rested is unknown.

It was, however, no surprise that two of Pakistan's greatest ever fast bowlers, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, raged about the decision.

Waqar called it a "real shocker" on Channel Seven, while Wasim suggested Shaheen was prioritising financial gain over the chance to become a "great of the game" on Fox. Their criticism is even more relevant given that the duo are the last two fast bowlers to have captained Pakistan's Test side.

It also adds more fuel to rumbling concerns over the primacy of Test cricket in the wake of South Africa naming a squad to tour New Zealand for two Tests next month has only half its 14 members holding prior experience in the format.

Any player holding a contract in South Africa’s domestic T20 league was not considered for selection.

Although Cummins has admitted he does occasionally worry about the future of the longest format, his hope is that some of the recent speedbumps are just that and pointed to the overall competitiveness of Pakistan during this series.

"I grew up absolutely loving Test cricket," he told reporters this week. "I think it does go through phases. I know the South African team aren't sending their strongest side (to NZ). I'm hoping it's a phase.

"I think in some regards leading to this Test summer, some of some of the question marks were against Pakistan and West Indies (who Australia play two Tests against later this month). We've had two fantastic Test matches against Pakistan, really well supported, big crowds.

"So I don't think it's in as dramatic a decline as sometimes gets spoken about. But I think there is an issue just with the amount of other cricket out there, obviously competition for talent is higher than it's ever been."

And although Warner was fortunate to avoid chopping on to Sajid as shadows lengthened over the SCG pitch late on Wednesday, it seems certain he would have been grateful not to be facing Shaheen instead.

NRMA Insurance Test series v Pakistan

First Test: Australia won by 360 runs

Second Test: Australia won by 79 runs

Third Test: January 3-7, SCG (10.30am AEDT)

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Steve Smith, Mitch Starc, David Warner

Pakistan squad: Shan Masood (c), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi