Shadab Khan: “Sarfaraz is our captain, big brother, and mentor from the beginning. So I don’t know what he saw in me that made him say such things, but if he feels that way, then Allah must have given me those qualities”
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Shadab Khan, the Pakistan spinner, said he doesn’t know what Sarfaraz Ahmed “saw in me” when backing him as the country’s next all-format captain.
Babar Azam currently leads the men in green in all three formats, while Shadab is vice-captain in ODIs and T20Is. Mohammad Rizwan is Azam’s second-in-command in Tests.
While it is possible that the 24-year-old could replace Azam as Pakistan’s white-ball captain in the future, it should be noted that Shadab has not played Test cricket since August 2020.
Despite this, it didn’t stop Sarfaraz from picking him as the future leader of the Pakistan cricket team.
“Sarfaraz is our captain, big brother, and mentor from the beginning. So I don’t know what he saw in me that made him say such things, but if he feels that way, then Allah must have given me those qualities,” Shadab told Cricket Pakistan.
The Mianwali native was not picked for Pakistan’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka, but he did feature in the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan and took four wickets at an average of 23.75.
Recently, Shadab was in action in the Asia Cup and claimed six wickets in five games at an average of 40.83.
Pakistan began their campaign with a 238-run win over Nepal before sharing one point apiece with India after their match was rained off.
Having advanced to the Super Four stage, the men in green thumped Bangladesh by seven wickets and were then beaten by 228 runs when they played India once again.
Pakistan still had a chance to advance to the Asia Cup final, but they ended up losing to Sri Lanka by two wickets via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method
They will now participate in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in India, which will begin on October 5.
Pakistan’s first match will be against the Netherlands on October 6 in Hyderabad.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali