Salman Butt: “Shadab Khan isn’t someone who should be batting at No. 4. Yes, there might be an odd good knock, but if you bat at one position regularly, you might do well once in a while. He is not having a good time”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt said spin-bowling all-rounder Shadab Khan shouldn’t be batting anywhere near number four.
Fakhar Zaman is currently Pakistan’s go-to batsman at the number four spot, but Shadab did bat that high while captaining Islamabad United in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL).
In the 2024 T20 World Cup, the 25-year-old was coming in at number five and had a particularly good performance against the United States of America, against whom he scored 40 runs.
However, Salman noted that “an odd good knock” here and there doesn’t justify why Shadab should be batting so high up the order.
“Shadab Khan isn’t someone who should be batting at No. 4. Yes, there might be an odd good knock, but if you bat at one position regularly, you might do well once in a while. He is not having a good time,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Shadab wasn’t anywhere near his best with the ball in the T20 World Cup as he went wicketless in four games. In fact, he didn’t bowl in the matches against India and Canada.
Pakistan lost their first two games against the United States of America and India before taking down Canada and Ireland.
Despite triumphing in those two matches, the men in green were eliminated in the group stage of the tournament.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed