Shaheen Shah Afridi, the Pakistan seam bowler, was barred from bowling on his debut in the Big Bash League after two dangerous deliveries.
Shaheen, who is playing for Brisbane Heat, is one of the marquee overseas names taking part in this year’s tournament. The 25-year-old has represented Pakistan 200 times across different formats and has taken 334 T20 wickets in total, making the tall left-arm quick one of the most attractive signings for franchises in the format.
However, his debut for the Heat in their match against Melbourne Renegades in Geelong on Monday could not have gone much worse. Having been taken for 19 runs off the 13th over of the innings, he was brought back into the attack for the 18th over.
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Things went from bad to worse as Shaheen, who looked visibly frustrated, conceded 15 more runs in an over that included three no-balls. Two of those were high full tosses, one to Tim Seifert and another to Ollie Peake that was chest height, prompting the umpire to intervene.
After being told he could no longer bowl, Shaheen seemed to sport a wry grin and his captain, Nathan McSweeney, had to step in to bowl the final two balls of the over.
It meant Shaheen finished with ugly figures of none for 43 from 2.4 overs, including three no-balls and two wides, as the Renegades racked up a massive score of 212 for five. In reply, the Heat made a good fist of their chase, with half-centuries by the wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson and the South Africa opener Colin Munro, but ultimately finished 14 runs short.
Shaheen did not fare any better with the bat, making a three-ball duck at No9.