Wahab Riaz: “Usman Khan is one of the best players in domestic players. For us, Usman showed great intent in the last T20I and he played selflessly and we believe he has a lot of potential to serve Pakistan”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan selector Wahab Riaz believes batsman Usman Khan is brimming with potential and has backed him to prove himself at the international level in the near future.
His comments come after Usman, who switched allegiance from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Pakistan, was called up to the T20I team following a stellar campaign in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL).
In the seven matches he played for the Multan Sultans, the 29-year-old amassed 430 runs, which included two centuries and two fifties, at an average of 107.50 and a strike-rate of 164.12.
Usman subsequently made his international debut in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand and scored 59 runs at an average of 14.75 and a strike-rate of 122.91.
Pakistan played a three-match T20I series against Ireland after this, but he didn’t feature in any of the games.
“Usman Khan is one of the best players in domestic players. For us, Usman showed great intent in the last T20I and he played selflessly and we believe he has a lot of potential to serve Pakistan,” Wahab was quoted as saying by PakPassion on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Pakistan are now taking on England in four T20Is, with the series currently tied at 0-0 after the first game was washed out.
After this, they will be involved in the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will take place in the West Indies and United States of America from June 1 to 29.
Pakistan’s first T20 World Cup game will be against the United States of America in Dallas on June 6.
Pakistan Squad for Ireland and England T20I Series: Babar Azam (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan
[TS_Poll id=”126″]