Mickey Arthur: “Once you look at Shadab Khan, he’s a very, very good international bowler”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan team director, has backed spinner Shadab Khan, calling him a “very, very good international bowler”, even though he wasn’t at his usual best during the Asia Cup.
Shadab has been slightly subpar for the past couple of months, but has still contributed with useful wickets.
The 24-year-old is considered to be the go-to spinner for Pakistan in limited overs cricket and is also the team’s vice-captain in ODIs and T20Is.
“Once you look at Shadab Khan, he’s a very, very good international bowler,” Arthur was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Shadab was not picked for Pakistan’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka as he has not featured in the longest format since August 2020, but he did play in the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, where he took four wickets at an average of 23.75.
The Mianwali native was most recently in action during the Asia Cup, where he picked up six wickets in five games at an average of 40.83.
Pakistan kicked off their campaign with a comprehensive 238-run win over Nepal before sharing one point apiece with India as their match was abandoned due to rain.
Despite this, the men in green still progressed to the Super Four stage and went on to beat Bangladesh by seven wickets.
However, their unbeaten streak was ended when India crushed them by 228 runs.
Pakistan still had a chance to reach the Asia Cup final, but missed out as Sri Lanka beat them by two wickets via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method.
Pakistan will now feature in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in India, which starts on October 5.
The men in green will kick off their campaign on October 6 when they take on 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