Dinesh Karthik: “Then it was Shadab Khan, he was the biggest miss for them in this tournament, just couldn’t pick up wickets, was a pale shadow of his past and that really showed why Pakistan struggled”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
India wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has named and shamed Shadab Khan as “the biggest miss” for Pakistan during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Shadab had been expected to have a major impact since he was the team’s first-choice spinner and would be bowling in spin-friendly conditions.
However, the 25-year-old was arguably Pakistan’s worst bowler in the tournament as he took two wickets in six matches at an average of 118.50 and an economy rate of 6.23.
“Then it was Shadab Khan, he was the biggest miss for them in this tournament, just couldn’t pick up wickets, was a pale shadow of his past and that really showed why Pakistan struggled,” Karthik told Cricbuzz as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan began the World Cup with back-to-back wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before faltering against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they fought back to defeat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to make it to the semi-finals.
To add insult to injury, the men in green concluded their campaign in disappointing fashion as England thumped them by 93 runs.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-match Test series against Australia, but Shadab was not included in the squad.
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia will get underway on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series:Â 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