Last Updated on 3 months by Charbel Coorey
Shaheen Afridi has grabbed the cricketing headlines in Australia as Brisbane Heat acquired his services during the KFC Big Bash League 15 Draft. Brisbane Heat were quick to get the pacer as he was their first pick on Thursday in Melbourne. Also, several other star cricketers from Pakistan were picked by various teams during the BBL 15 overseas player draft.
The likes of Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, and Haris Rauf will be seen playing against each other during the Australian summer. Thus, the BBL 2025/26 tournament will garner plenty of interest from Pakistan.
Brisbane Heat coach Johan Botha is very pleased to have the star pacer in his side. The former South African captain has been a part of various T20 leagues including the Pakistan Super League (PSL), and has an impressive CV as a T20 player. He has coached several franchises across the globe too.
During an exclusive interview with Arvind Kalyana Krishnan for CricBlog during the BBL 15 Draft, Johan Botha expressed his excitement about getting Shaheen. Also, the former Proteas all-rounder drew light on the prospect of all the Pakistani players playing against one another, and the amount of fan following they have. Botha stated that it was a big tick for the BBL in terms of popularising the tournament.
Further on, the 43-year-old spoke about South Africa winning the World Test Championship. As a former South African cricketer and skipper himself, Botha felt that the “Rainbow Nation” winning their second ICC tournament was massive for the cricketing world.
He also spoke about how some of the Proteas players still rate Test cricket very highly and want to continue playing the longest format of the game. The Temba Bavuma-led side had beaten Australia at Lord’s during the WTC 2025 Final with Aiden Markram hitting a scintillating century in the fourth innings to deny the Pat Cunmins-led side their second WTC title.
Pakistan players a big tick for the BBL – Johan Botha
Below is the entire exclusive interview between Arvind Kalyana Krishnan and Johan Botha, both in video and text format.
Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: Now that Afridi is with Brisbane, how excited are you in terms of popularity? The amount of fans he can get to your team?
Johan Botha: We’ve very excited. You know, I think the whole BBL now! With Babar going to Sydney, Shadab is back, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Rizwan…..I think that’s a big tick for the Big Bash. I think it’ll bring a lot of interest, and especially when you have those guys play against each other, I think that you will get crowds in through the gates and that’s ultimately what it is. It’s entertainment and we’re look into those match-ups. You know I’ve been at PSL quite a lot and it’s exciting to see the best players going against each other.
Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: South Africa won the WTC, so how impactful is that for world cricket?
Johan Botha: It’s massive. You know, following that over the last few days obviously. A huge win for South Africa. Their rugby has done so well for a long time and it’s nice to finally see the cricket guys get over the line and it’s huge for cricket. Even those guys in the team speaking about important Test cricket still is. You know when I was there and playing, you always felt that guys want to play One-day cricket to playing franchise cricket, but it’s great to hear that top players still speak so highly of Test cricket and yeah, it’s exciting and hopefully that you know those young guys can come through and play Test cricket for South Africa.
