Mickey Arthur: “He’s a wonderful cricketer. You look at his package of bowling, batting, fielding, it’s exceptional”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur has called spinner Shadab Khan a “wonderful cricketer” despite his subpar form as of late.
He noted that the 25-year-old contributes in all facets of the game, making him a unique and special asset.
Shadab’s form has been a major talking point over the past few months and in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup as well since he only claimed two wickets in six matches at an average of 118.50 and an economy rate of 6.23.
Even though the Mianwali native has been falling well short of expectations, Arthur seemingly has no plans to drop him as he knows what he brings to the table.
“He’s a wonderful cricketer. You look at his package of bowling, batting, fielding, it’s exceptional,” he was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Pakistan began their World Cup campaign in style as they triumphed over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka.
However, things fell apart after this as they lost to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
The men in green stopped their four-game losing streak and kept their semi-final hopes alive with back-to-back victories over Bangladesh and New Zealand.
However, they fell short in their bid to reach the final four and lost their last group stage game against England by 93 runs.
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