Danish Kaneria: “Khushdil Shah and Salman Agha have the ability [to be the trump card]”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria believes middle order batsmen Salman Ali Agha and Khushdil Shah have what it takes to be the team’s trump card.
He noted that they are both capable of playing big innings, which Salman has shown on many occasions in the past across different formats.
Recently, the 31-year-old, who is Pakistan’s T20I captain, was involved in the 2025 Champions Trophy and amassed 61 runs in two matches at an average of 30.50.
Khushdil, meanwhile, was Pakistan’s highest run-scorer in the tournament with 107 runs, which included a career-best 69, at an average of 53.50.
“Khushdil Shah and Salman Agha have the ability [to be the trump card],” Kaneria told IANS as quoted by NDTV.
Pakistan failed to make it out of the group stage in the Champions Trophy as they lost to New Zealand and India, while their final game against Bangladesh was washed out.
Following this, Salman and Khushdil featured in Pakistan’s white-ball tour of New Zealand, with the former scoring 167 runs in five T20Is, which included two fifties, at an average of 41.75.
As for Khushdil, he finished with 40 runs in four games at an average of 13.33.
Salman was then involved in a three-match ODI series and accumulated 78 runs, which included a top score of 58, at an average of 26.
Khushdil, meanwhile, was not included in the playing XI for any of the games.
Next up for the duo will be the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL), with Salman playing for Islamabad United and Khushdil representing the Karachi Kings.
PSL 10 will take place from April 11 to May 18.
Islamabad United Squad for PSL 10:
- Platinum: Matthew Short, Naseem Shah, Shadab Khan (captain)
- Diamond: Imad Wasim, Azam Khan, Jason Holder
- Gold: Ben Dwarshuis, Salman Irshad, Salman Ali Agha, Haider Ali
- Silver: Andries Gous, Colin Munro, Mohammad Nawaz, Rumman Raees
- Emerging: Hunain Shah, Saad Masood
- Supplementary: Riley Meredith, Rassie van der Dussen
Karachi Kings Squad for PSL 10:
- Platinum: Adam Milne, David Warner, Abbas Afridi
- Diamond: Hasan Ali, James Vince, Khushdil Shah
- Gold: Aamer Jamal, Irfan Khan, Shan Masood
- Silver: Arafat Minhas, Litton Das, Mir Hamza, Tim Seifert, Zahid Mahmood
- Emerging: Fawad Ali, Muhammad Riazullah
- Supplementary: Kane Williamson, Mohammad Nabi, Omair Yousuf, Mirza Mamoon
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