Mickey Arthur: “Shadab’s a wonderful cricketer, he’s three-dimensional”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur has showered praise on spinner Shadab Khan as he holds many roles in the team.

In addition to taking wickets during non-powerplay overs, Shadab also fields at cover point and bats in the top seven or eight.

He has the knack of taking wickets and can also bat as he has three half-centuries to his name in ODI cricket.

However, Shadab is in a race against time to be fit for the World Cup as he was diagnosed with a virus, which, according to reports, is Hepatitis C.

The 20-year-old will be out of action for at least four weeks and has already been ruled out of the limited overs series against England.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed that Yasir Shah will replace Shadab for the series against England.

It will also be touch and go as to whether Shadab makes a fully recovery prior to the World Cup, where Pakistan will get their campaign started against the West Indies in Nottingham on May 31.

“Shadab’s a wonderful cricketer, he’s three-dimensional,” Arthur was quoted as saying by PakPassion. “He fields at cover point, he bats in the top seven or eight and he plays a key role outside the powerplay in terms of taking wickets.

“We’ll miss a guy like Shadab but we’ve tried to cover that hole with a like for like wrist-spinner.

“The team’s not about one man, there’s a squad of 15 going to the World Cup and all 15 have the ability to win games. Shadab is not out of the World Cup, there’s certainly hope on him playing.”

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