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New Delhi. Shadab Khan of Pakistan is considered to be the best player of the short format but he has got very few opportunities to play Test cricket so far. Shadab, 24, has proved his playing skills with both bat and ball in ODIs and T20Is but he is yet to become a regular member of the Test team. In an international career of nearly six years, Shadab has played 56 ODIs and 92 T20Is so far, but he got the chance to play white jersey (Test) only six times. Not only this, he played his last Test in August 2020 against England in Manchester.
Former Pakistan captain and wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed may have described Shadab as a three-format player, but the all-rounder has not found a place in the Pakistan team announced for the Test series in Sri Lanka. The team has to play a two-Test series there.
On the question of Shadab’s future in red ball cricket, Chief Selector Haroon Rasheed said that the inclusion of pure white ball cricket players in the Test format is being considered. Although he said that going from limited overs cricket to long format cricket is challenging. However, he did not rule out the possibility of Shadab being included in the Test team.
Challenging to shift from shorter format to Test cricket
In an interview given to Cricket Pakistan, Harun said, ‘Our concern remains that cricketers who have not played red ball cricket for a long time can struggle in this format. However, they cannot be sidelined as we believe that some of our players of white ball cricket can play Test cricket as well. It is not that he cannot play Test but our concern is that he has not played the longer format for a long time. Suddenly taking him from white ball to red ball cricket can be challenging. Throwing long spells in Test cricket requires different physical and mental ‘preparation’ than white-ball cricket, so before giving Shadab a chance in Tests, the selectors want to test his performance in first-class cricket.
One of the best all-rounders in the short format
Shadab has so far taken 73 wickets at an average of 32.64 in addition to scoring 631 runs at an average of 28.68 in 56 ODIs. 86 runs is his highest score in One Day International while 4/28 is his best bowling performance. In 92 T20Is, Shadab has taken 104 wickets at an average of 22.12 besides scoring 569 runs at an average of 18.96. He has done the feat of taking five wickets in an innings three times in T20 and his best performance is 4 wickets for 8 runs.
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Tags: Pakistan cricket team, PCB, shadab khan
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 20, 2023, 18:44 IST
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