Mickey Arthur: “He hasn’t lost his ability to turn the ball”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Recently removed Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur insisted that spinner Shadab Khan has not “lost his ability to turn the ball.”
His comments come after Shadab has come under immense criticism for his poor form and failure to take wickets in the middle overs.
In the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, the 25-year-old from Mianwali was restricted to two wickets in six games at an average of 118.50 and an economy rate of 6.23.
Even though Shadab has not been making the grade lately, Arthur reiterated that he has not lost his key weapon of making the ball turn.
“He hasn’t lost his ability to turn the ball,” he was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Pakistan kicked off the World Cup with wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before falling to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
They then fought back to beat Bangladesh and New Zealand to keep their hopes of reaching the semi-finals alive.
However, they failed to reach the final four and lost their last group stage game against England by 93 runs.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-match Test series against Australia, but Shadab was not included in the 18-man squad.
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia will get underway on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi
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