Harbhajan Singh: “He is rather happy going for fifty and sixty runs and no wickets. When you have a mindset like that as a spinner, you will not win games for your team”
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Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has vented his frustration at Shadab Khan, saying that the Pakistan spinner is happy to concede 50-60 runs and take no wickets.
Harbhajan questioned what kind of mindset the 25-year-old has, adding that it will not help Pakistan win any matches.
Shadab’s bowling has been a major area of concern for the men in green as he is their go-to spinner in limited overs cricket.
His ineffectiveness at taking wickets has been an issue for a couple of months and continued in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, where he claimed two wickets in six matches at an average of 118.50 and an economy rate of 6.23.
In Harbhajan’s eyes, Shadab needs to change his thinking and approach when it comes to bowling as soon as possible as his current mentality is doing more harm than good.
“He is rather happy going for fifty and sixty runs and no wickets. When you have a mindset like that as a spinner, you will not win games for your team,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan beat the Netherlands and Sri Lanka to start their World Cup campaign on a high, but they failed to maintain that momentum as they lost their next four games against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Teetering on the brink of elimination, the men in green fought back to defeat Bangladesh and New Zealand to keep their hopes of advancing to the semi-finals alive.
However, they were unable 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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