Shahid Afridi: “Shadab was once the backbone of the Pakistan team and I was a huge supporter of him”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Iconic six-hitter Shahid Afridi has stripped spinner Shadab Khan of his status of being “the backbone of the Pakistan team.”
Afridi recalled how the 25-year-old, at one point, was such an important part of the side and was virtually undroppable due to his outstanding performances.
However, everything has changed in the past couple of months as Shadab has not been taking wickets or contributing runs lower down the order.
In the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, the first-choice spinner and Pakistan limited overs vice-captain took two wickets in six matches at an average of 118.50 and an economy rate of 6.23.
“Shadab was once the backbone of the Pakistan team and I was a huge supporter of him,” Afridi was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan began the World Cup with back-to-back wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before falling to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
The men in green bounced back to defeat Bangladesh and New Zealand, which kept their semi-final hopes alive.
However, the failed to make it to 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
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