Shaheen Shah Afridi is set to return to first-class cricket after he was named in the Khan Research Laboratories team for the 2026-27 men’s domestic season. The left-arm quick returns to KRL almost a decade after his memorable first-class debut, during which he took a second-innings 8 for 39 against Rawalpindi. Though KRL lost that match, his spell catapulted him into the national consciousness and he was soon picked by Lahore Qalandars for whom he made his T20 debut in PSL 2018.
So rapid was Afridi’s rise to the top that he made his Test debut against New Zealand in December 2018 at the back of only three first-class matches. Afridi’s last domestic first-class match in Pakistan was in 2019, when he made a solitary outing for Northern against Southern Punjab in the revamped Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and his return to first-class cricket comes amid increasing scrutiny on the bowler due to diminishing returns in Test cricket and a drop in his bowling speed since his return from a knee injury. There have also been questions around his commitment towards the longer format. When Aaqib Javed, the PCB’s director of high performance, was asked about Afridi’s future in Tests, he remarked: “Shaheen is an excellent bowler but at times a player has to pick which format he wants to play.”
Though Afridi has 126 Test wickets at 28.13, his last 27 have come over nine Tests at 40.11 and a strike rate of 67.6. The Pakistan ODI captain was axed for the tours of West Indies and England after being dropped for the second Test against Bangladesh in Sylhet in May. It was the third time in the last two years that Afridi had been benched after playing the first Test of a series. He was released from the squad after the first Rawalpindi Test against Bangladesh in 2024 and also after Pakistan lost in Multan in the first of the three Tests. In what were the first signs of a complete breakdown of trust in Afridi’s ability, Pakistan dropped him for the 2024-25 Test tour of South Africa, where conditions are ripe for fast bowling.
While going back to first-class cricket could help Afridi regain his bowling form, the decision might also be influenced by the new central-contract structure, which requires the players in the A (Test) and AB (Test and ODI) categories to play six and four first-class matches respectively.
KRL is one of the eight teams to compete in the President’s Trophy and President’s Cup this season. The President’s Trophy is one of the two first-class tournaments in Pakistan’s men’s domestic season alongside the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, which is contested by regions. Unlike in 2025-26, the President’s Trophy is being held before the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy this season and begins on September 12. The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is scheduled to be played in November-December. The President’s Cup, a 50-over competition for the same eight department teams, was initially scheduled for August but it has been pushed back to December on the request of the national selection committee.
Agha named Kingsmen Academy vice-captain
Salman Agha is another prominent player who will be in action in the President’s Trophy. He has been named vice-captain of first-class debutants Kingsmen Academy. The team includes Saud Shakeel, Hunain Shah, Mohammad Huraira, Saim Ayub, and Sufyan Moqim.
Kingsmen Academy earned promotion to the first-class President’s Trophy after reaching the finals of the President’s Trophy Gold Tournament last season, and will continue to be captained by young Tayyab Arif, who is yet to make his first-class debut.
The last time Agha, one of the seven players to be dumped after the Lord’s Test, had a proper run in domestic first-class cricket was when he played for Southern Punjab in the 2022-23 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. The allrounder has since played only three domestic first-class matches – two for State Bank of Pakistan in the 2023-24 President’s Trophy and one for Lahore Whites against Islamabad in last year’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
Afridi and Agha, however, will not be playing the entire President’s Trophy as its last four rounds clash with Pakistan’s home T20I series against Sri Lanka and a home ODI triangular series involving Sri Lanka and England. The regions will also face similar trouble in this year’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy with Pakistan hosting Sri Lanka for two Tests in November.
The President’s Trophy will be played on a single-round-robin basis in Abbottabad, Islamabad, Peshawar, and Rawalpindi with the two finalists decided after seven rounds. The final – a five-day game – will start on October 24.