Matthew Hayden: “He is a dangerous hitter with the bat”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Matthew Hayden, the brutally strong Australia opener, has warned other teams not to underestimate the firepower Pakistan spinner Shadab Khan possesses.
Shadab usually bats lower down the order for the men in green in ODIs and T20Is, but is capable of unleashing a volley of big shots that can accelerate the run rate in no time.
It should be noted, though, that when the 24-year-old captains Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), he has a tendency to bat higher up the order and has, on many occasions, played very useful knocks.
“He is a dangerous hitter with the bat,” Hayden told Star Sports as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Shadab was not picked for Pakistan’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka, but did feature in the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, where he took four wickets at an average of 23.75.
He recently represented the men in green in the Asia Cup and snapped up six wickets in five games at an average of 40.83.
Pakistan kickstarted their campaign with a brilliant 238-run win over Nepal before they had to share one point apiece with India as their match was ruined by rain.
Despite this, Pakistan advanced to the Super Four stage and proceeded to claim a comfortable seven-wicket win over Bangladesh.
In their next match, however, things didn’t go according to plan as India blew they away by 228 runs.
The men in green still had an opportunity to make it to the Asia Cup final, but fell short in their bid to so as they lost to Sri Lanka by two wickets via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zaman Khan.
Travelling reserve: Tayyab Tahir