Wahab Riaz: “Shadab and Nawaz should not play together for Pakistan”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
New Pakistan chief selector Wahab Riaz doesn’t want spinners Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz in the playing XI together.
He noted that only one of them should be picked since both of them have struggled to take wickets consistently as of late.
This was highly evident during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, where first-choice spinner Shadab Khan took two wickets in six matches at an average of 118.50 and an economy rate of 6.23.
As for Nawaz, he claimed two wickets in five games at an average of 111.50 and an economy rate of 5.89.
“Shadab and Nawaz should not play together for Pakistan,” Wahab was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan started their World Cup campaign with successive wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before losing four in a row to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they fought back to defeat Bangladesh and New Zealand, it was not enough to earn them a place in the semi-finals.
To add insult to injury, Pakistan lost their last group stage match 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