Know why Shaheen Afridi quit LPL 2026 mid-tournament

The left-arm fast bowler of the Pakistan side, Shaheen Afridi, has suddenly decided to pull out of the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2026 where he played for the Kandy Royals. The development has come after the fast bowler lodged a complaint with the anti-corruption unit after getting dropped from a particular fixture.

The competition hasn’t started on a successful note due to the outside issues as the Jaffna Kings co-owner, Manjot Kalra, was arrested on suspicion of attempting to bribe a player, just before the opening game of the competition.

Shaheen Afridi prepares to leave Sri Lanka after Kandy Royals drop him mid-game despite assurances

Afridi has decided to leave Sri Lanka in between the LPL 2026 which has not been a good indication as it nearly comes to end of the competition. The fast bowler’s reason to leave the competition isn’t known yet, but the assumption is that it could be due to his anti-corruption complaint

The Pakistan pacer, who has picked up over 369 wickets in 265 innings of the shortest format at an average of 21.20 and an economy rate of just over eight, ends the LPL 2026 campaign in a struggling manner.

He picked up seven wickets in the LPL 2026 out of six innings at an average of 32 and a strike rate of 18.80 and an economy rate of just 10.18 with the best bowling figures of 3/27 in an innings.

Why Afridi reported the incident to LPL's anti-corruption unit — And how the rift was resolved

It was reported that Afrid was so upset with the treatment of the franchise. That was the time when he first thought of leaving Sri Lanka before the apologies from the team pushed him to stay for the rest of the competition.

There was a sequence of the events that broke the communication over the role of the player in the match. He was given the clear assurance of playing as an impact player.

But the issue escalated when the match started, as the player realised that he won’t feature. After being dropped for the game, he brought the matter to the attention of the anti-corruption official. It will be interesting to see what action does the board takes on Afridi regarding his LPL participation in 2027.