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[VIDEOS] Shadab Khan: The batsman

Shadab steve smith khan has no right to bat higher that 8 in international cricket.
 
Saj said:
20, 30 or 40 - it was an awful innings.
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Think you need to understand that he’s not a batting all rounder, but a bowling all rounder, can’t expect him to come in at 33rd over and build a 100+ partnership, that too when the senior player batting with him struggled as well.
 
Mamoon said:
If everyone got better with age, there would be no mediocre 30 year old players.
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Not everyone gets better with age, Babar Azam was averaging 26 a few months ago in tests, now he’s improving his game and looks a better batsman in the test format.
 
YousafTheBeast said:
Think you need to understand that he’s not a batting all rounder, but a bowling all rounder, can’t expect him to come in at 33rd over and build a 100+ partnership, that too when the senior player batting with him struggled as well.
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Question then would be, why is he taking a batsmans place in the batting order?
 
It's not only his batting that's problematic but his main job of bowling too.

He's been smacked at 7+ RPO today, and his average against top sides is 34.

We've no strike spinner since the departure of Saeed Ajmal, and neither Imad or Shadab will win ODIs for us with the ball v top teams.
 
The showoff bails his team out again.

Not with the bowl but with the bat.
 
He is a fighter. Has a habit of coming to the fore when team needs him to deliver. Amd he is only 20.
 
You guys just hype up anybody who scores few runs. He is a glorified tailender and a show off on the field and that's it.
 
It seems the notion of “show-off” has been the latest PP fever.

Shadab is not a power-hitter but a proper lower-middle order batsmen who should be used strictly as a bowler in T20’s.

He’s had a hot and cold tour to SA but not anywhere near the terrible some would have you believe.
 
Bits and pieces is what I was saying and people here said otherwise . No wonder SA batsman are looking to attack him
 
Just got hold of a few slower ones today. Nothing to look into here.

He is a poor batsman and a below average bowler. A player of little worth once you look past all the over-acting.

He is exactly the type of player who can ensure that Pakistan hover over minnow status but fail to break into the top teams. The perfect mid-table player to maintain mid-table rankings in Tests and ODIs.
 
Mamoon said:
Just got hold of a few slower ones today. Nothing to look into here.

He is a poor batsman and a below average bowler. A player of little worth once you look past all the over-acting.

He is exactly the type of player who can ensure that Pakistan hover over minnow status but fail to break into the top teams. The perfect mid-table player to maintain mid-table rankings in Tests and ODIs.
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Is there a reason you still watch Pakistan cricket? Not trying to be rude, just genuinely wondering. This seems like an overreaction to a couple of off games.

Maybe Shadabs been a little overhyped but there’s no denying he’s one the most exciting prospects in world cricket right now, any side would want to have him, especially in LOI. He shown real ability in all three areas of he game and he’s still very young.

If Imran Khan was coming though as a prospect in this day, you would have written him off too at this rate.
 
^Some people unknowingly enjoy the heart burning due to team's continuous pathetic performance and find some wierd joy in posting doom and gloom threads and posts, trust me I used to be that person as well but now I got bored and could not care less about our cricket team,currently just watch t20 pak cricket for some good bowling that's it, may be one day Mamoon will join me too when he gets that boredom and his dopamine rush dies.
 
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Received another tonking with the ball. Needs to go back to domestic cricket, he lacks control and variety to be a frontline spinner.
 
Markhor said:
Received another tonking with the ball. Needs to go back to domestic cricket, he lacks control and variety to be a frontline spinner.
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U cant be serious he bowled well tonite. Dont forget this was his first tour to SA and pitches dont offer much to spinners there.

He bowled well in first 2-3 odis and a test and batted well in the test as well
 
Like I said before this guy has massive potential. He showed it in the tests and today yet again in a pressure situation with the bat.

If Pak had invested more in Shadab's batting ability instead of always promoting Faheem, Hasan or Asif he would have been a decent finisher by now.

I still see a very decent nr 6 for ODI's in two years time. He is a tough lad and reads the situation well.
 
Hitting Phelukawayo 120 - 130kph deliveries isn't exactly groundbreaking.

Mamoon may have a point when he cites his presence in the side is merely for "show off".
 
The scary thing isn't the fact isn't which bowlers he hit. The scary thing is posters doing banghra over a few bouandires in a T20. His batting needs a lot more work. I think he bowled well in the ODIs.
 
You guys will be made to eat dust soon. Shadab is a lot better than you guys think. I will reiterate what I have said previously, he is more than a handy batsman. The no 6 spot belongs to him after the wc.
 
He is one of those guys with hard work and determination will become a world star atleast Vettori level however if he slacks off and takes his ball off the game he might turn in to a very definition of bits and pieces
 
He had free license to hit the ball yesterday.
Most of the time he come to bat with a defined role which is to hold the one end and rotate strike rate.
And while fulfilling this role he go into shell most of the time and don't kick on the right time.
He is more than a handy batsman. But he should not forget about his bowling which is deteriorating day by day.
 
topspin said:
Hitting Phelukawayo 120 - 130kph deliveries isn't exactly groundbreaking.

Mamoon may have a point when he cites his presence in the side is merely for "show off".
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What Mamoon doesnt tell u us that he score 20-30 runs and every now and then and also saves 20 odd runs in the field as well.
 
Sunny_majoka said:
He had free license to hit the ball yesterday.
Most of the time he come to bat with a defined role which is to hold the one end and rotate strike rate.
And while fulfilling this role he go into shell most of the time and don't kick on the right time.
He is more than a handy batsman. But he should not forget about his bowling which is deteriorating day by day.
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He bowled well yesterday
 
I think he should not be playing in the tests so soon. He should instead go and play FC cricket and develop his batting and bowling there. His bowling has regressed a bit from when he started. He is an asset for Pakistan.
 
Hasan123 said:
The scary thing isn't the fact isn't which bowlers he hit. The scary thing is posters doing banghra over a few bouandires in a T20. His batting needs a lot more work. I think he bowled well in the ODIs.
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what is more scary is that this "glorified tailender" played a heavy part in our victory against England as well as looked much better then most of our batsmen in England as well as in South Africa. Another scary thing is that people are expecting too much of a 20 year old. Yes he needs to improve his batting and bowling , but by no means he's a finished product. I actually thought he bowled very well till the 4th odi. We can all see his got solid batting technique and has the potential, but here people are expecting him to play like razzaq which he is not capable of. Hopefully after world cup we play him at 6 so he can develop his odi batting. His test batting is fine for no 7-8.
 
Ahmed216 said:
U cant be serious he bowled well tonite. Dont forget this was his first tour to SA and pitches dont offer much to spinners there.

He bowled well in first 2-3 odis and a test and batted well in the test as well
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Just what I was thinking maybe we were watching another match. This is T20s everyone gets tonked that too a leg spinner against some big hitters.
 
Mamoon said:
Just got hold of a few slower ones today. Nothing to look into here.

He is a poor batsman and a below average bowler. A player of little worth once you look past all the over-acting.

He is exactly the type of player who can ensure that Pakistan hover over minnow status but fail to break into the top teams. The perfect mid-table player to maintain mid-table rankings in Tests and ODIs.
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Did you make same excuses for Pandya when he tonked few against Pakistan in the ICC Trophy, being forced to bowl a bowler that hardly bowls. Of course not he is 45 averaging batsmen and does it consistently.
 
Shadab along with Shaheen are gems for Pak, and I am astonished how well they have progressed at such a young age and with not much domestics experience.
 
PakPremi said:
Did you make same excuses for Pandya when he tonked few against Pakistan in the ICC Trophy, being forced to bowl a bowler that hardly bowls. Of course not he is 45 averaging batsmen and does it consistently.
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It was a scary innings, he nearly won it for them.
 
Pakhs said:
Did he? It was a record defeat for India in terms of runs in case you forgot.
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Doesn't matter what you think or how the runs the game was lost by, the whole world knows he was set for a double ton.
 
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Sher Khan said:
You guys will be made to eat dust soon. Shadab is a lot better than you guys think. I will reiterate what I have said previously, he is more than a handy batsman. The no 6 spot belongs to him after the wc.
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In ODI's you mean?

In Tests he is also good, did well both in England and SA. But he shoukd bat at No. 7 or No. 8 in Tests.
 
Did the job for pakistan yesterday , i still feel though that he should consider bowling his main job in all formats. His batting is a plus.
 
Khan12 said:
Doesn't matter what you think or how the runs the game was lost by, the whole world knows he was set for a double ton.
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Was he? Why not triple ton? In-fact the next 50 balls he was about to face were all destined to go for 6. Ah such a shame.
 
Khan12 said:
It was a scary innings, he nearly won it for them.
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I was referring to the group match where we were forced to bowl Fakhar. Point being that you can day same thing about many players for instance on his days Hasan tonks a few
The criticism levelled at Shadab was that yes he has good batting sense and technique and even scores well for a bowling all rounder but he can not hit it out of park to excite the ticklish fans. So he shut up few yesterday. Now they go to criticise the bowler the one has been praising previously and the one who took 3 wickets in one over in the previous game.
Its really enjoyable to see posters been bought to earth by some players just like the one that were hyping Rizwan over Sarfraz.
 
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London_Lahori said:
What's this "show off" nonsense everyone keeps talking about?
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Show because he saves 15 to 20 runs in field
, runs out opposition players, contributed with bat and ball regularly. Wish we had few more shodey Shadabs rather than Nawaz or Asif Ali.
 
Not a match wining player. A contributor like paul collingwood at best. Perfect example of current Pakistani low lifter cricketer. No big dreams no inspirations no great expectations just do enough to get some 2-3 lac dollars contracts from here & there & permenant job in Pakistan team for 15-20 years.
 
He is a cricketer under development at the moment , he has played very little cricket at top level even in domestic cricket.

He is a pretty good odi and t20 bowler who will get better with time , people are expecting too much from him with the bat at the moment which frankly is not fair with him.
 
todfod 11 said:
What Mamoon doesnt tell u us that he score 20-30 runs and every now and then and also saves 20 odd runs in the field as well.
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I think he has potential to be a good AR in tests but in ODIs I'm concerned that he scores his runs at a strike rate of just 70! His bowling has been exposed outside UAE against the better sides and given the fact that the WC is in England it makes me wonder whether Pakistan are better off with a specialist spinner in the middle overs instead but having said that our spin stocks are at an all-time low especially in ODIs.

You're quite right in regards to his contributions in the field, he saves valuable runs fielding in the inner ring.
 
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Khan12 said:
what is more scary is that this "glorified tailender" played a heavy part in our victory against England as well as looked much better then most of our batsmen in England as well as in South Africa. Another scary thing is that people are expecting too much of a 20 year old. Yes he needs to improve his batting and bowling , but by no means he's a finished product. I actually thought he bowled very well till the 4th odi. We can all see his got solid batting technique and has the potential, but here people are expecting him to play like razzaq which he is not capable of. Hopefully after world cup we play him at 6 so he can develop his odi batting. His test batting is fine for no 7-8.
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He played well in the England series but we are in 2019 now. We can't keep holding onto 1 or 2 performances when a player hasn't been performing consistently. Also those performances were in tests and people were doing banghra over a few bouandires.

I like Shadab as a player but I am not going to over hype him when he has a lot to prove.
 
topspin said:
I think he has potential to be a good AR in tests but in ODIs I'm concerned that he scores his runs at a strike rate of just 70! His bowling has been exposed outside UAE against the better sides and given the fact that the WC is in England it makes me wonder whether Pakistan are better off with a specialist spinner in the middle overs instead but having said that our spin stocks are at an all-time low especially in ODIs.

You're quite right in regards to his contributions in the field, he saves valuable runs fielding in the inner ring.
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He get smacked sometimes because he goes for wickets.. he gets wickets most games plus he can bat and is the best fielder. No wonder he has gain popularity around the world so quick. A proper spinner wont get u few extra runs down the order. I m not saying that he doesnt have room for improvment but at the moment he is the best player to play at no. 8.
 
todfod 11 said:
He get smacked sometimes because he goes for wickets.. he gets wickets most games plus he can bat and is the best fielder. No wonder he has gain popularity around the world so quick. A proper spinner wont get u few extra runs down the order. I m not saying that he doesnt have room for improvment but at the moment he is the best player to play at no. 8.
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Pakistani fans hype their players too much and then expect them to perform every series as if they have God given right to always dominate opponents and opposition players are so average that they should be surrendered by our heroes every time. We do not even allow players to develop which takes about 5 years to become a complete player and experience all kind of environments and pressures and team strategies. If India listened to fans and got rid of Kohli or Rohit after their average starts then we would not have seen their development into world class champions. Shadab has a very good attitude and is blessed with skills for all three facets of cricket so why would we not be patient and allow him to develop. He has not asked people to call him world class all rounder. He is lialways picked in team for his bowling, any batting contribution is a bonus. His fielding compensates any extra runs he may give when trying to buy a wicket.
 
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PakPremi said:
Pakistani fans hype their players too much and then expect them to perform every series as if they have God given right to always dominate opponents and opposition players are so average that they should be surrendered by our heroes every time. We do not even allow players to develop which takes about 5 years to become a complete player and experience all kind of environments and pressures and team strategies. If India listened to fans and got rid of Kohli or Rohit after their average starts then we would not have seen their development into world class champions. Shadab has a very good attitude and is blessed with skills for all three facets of cricket so why would we not be patient and allow him to develop. He has not asked people to call him world class all rounder. He is lialways picked in team for his bowling, any batting contribution is a bonus. His fielding compensates any extra runs he may give when trying to buy a wicket.
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Right on the point. Shadab was always picked as a bowler. Lot of players had very average start to their careers and then they blossom into world class Sehwag, Imran, Jayasuriya and then we have players who come on debut and scores big and then end up a nothing player Yasir hameed, inran farhat, Umar akmal to name a few.
Shadab is quite decent in every facet and who can garauntee regular spinner wont get a spanking in a bad day.
 
shady said:
Is there a reason you still watch Pakistan cricket? Not trying to be rude, just genuinely wondering. This seems like an overreaction to a couple of off games.

Maybe Shadabs been a little overhyped but there’s no denying he’s one the most exciting prospects in world cricket right now, any side would want to have him, especially in LOI. He shown real ability in all three areas of he game and he’s still very young.

If Imran Khan was coming though as a prospect in this day, you would have written him off too at this rate.
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PakPremi said:
Did you make same excuses for Pandya when he tonked few against Pakistan in the ICC Trophy, being forced to bowl a bowler that hardly bowls. Of course not he is 45 averaging batsmen and does it consistently.
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And the obsession with Pandya continues. After the heartbreak in the Faheem thread, it appears that some people want the same outcome with respect to Shadab as well. Pakistan simply does not have an all-rounder of his caliber at the moment and I do not understand why it is so hard for some people to digest.

Pandya is not a finished article yet, but he is the most exciting all-rounder to come out of Asia in years, and his best with the bat is far and beyond what Shadab is capable of. Yes the latter is young and bla bla, but we will see where he stands 4-5 years from now.

Shadab got hold of a few the other night, but he is not a reliable hitter down the order and neither is he a good middle-order batsman. 9/10 times, he will get caught in the deep for 10 or 15 runs in the slog overs and if he comes to the crease in the middle-overs, he ends up doing tuk tuk which explains his embarrassing SR. He is a bunny against spin bowling and does not have the skill to manoeuvre the field or build an innings.

The highlight of his career so far was the 4 (28) in the must-win match against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup when he arrived at the crease at 80/4 in the 20th over with 239 to win.

As a spinner, he has been average against the major teams. Simply put, Pakistan is going nowhere with Shadab as its frontline spinner in Limited Overs. This combo of Shadab + Imad or Nawaz simply does not work, and we will continue to be humiliated by teams like India and Bangladesh on Asian wickets as we saw in the Asia Cup.

Imad is brilliant at what he does, but he is not a wicket-taker. He performs a niche role where he goes through 10 or 4 dry overs in quick time, and any wicket that he takes is a bonus. He has taken over the role that Hafeez occupied for years, when he would chuck through economical spells game after game.

Pakistan is in dire need of a specialist spinner in Limited Overs. Someone who is picked purely on bowling merit and not for his fake batting or theatrics in the field. Someone who could provide some competition to the leading Limited Overs spinners in the world such as Rashid, Kuldeep, Chahal etc. Pitching the likes of Shadab against them is like bringing a knife to a gun fight.

In spite of the talent crisis in Pakistan and the undeniable dearth of quality players, I find it hard to believe that there is not a single spinner in the country who is better than Shadab in Limited Overs. I am not going to name players because I don't want to hype them, but I don't care if it is Zafar Gohar or Usama Mir or Asghar - surely there must be someone who can do better than Shadab with the ball.

Shadab and Imad need to compete for one spot and not play in tandem. For all the hype and the golden boy treatment, the former so far has not proved himself to be a better player than the latter. Their bowling is more or less at the same level - Shadab takes a wicket or two more, but Imad tends to be more economical. However, Imad has fared much better with the bat so far.

At this point, Shadab is a flashy bits and pieces player and diving around like a dolphin in the field is not enough to cover it. No all-rounder in history has been equally good in both facets - every all-rounder had a stronger primary skill which was well supported by their secondary skills.

Shadab needs to decide if he wants to become a frontline spinner or a frontline batsman. Either way, he needs to play a lot of F/C cricket. International cricket is not for these fancy experiments or half-cooked players. He was picked on PSL hype and capitalised on some minnow bashing early in his career, but he has been found wanting against the good teams and also flopped in PSL last year.


It is not wrong to fast-track PSL performers, but it is important to ensure that the player also has considerable F/C experience. Someone with 5-6 F/C games under his belt is bound to struggle against the big teams in international cricket unless he is a once in a lifetime talent, which Shadab clearly is not.

Pakistan's F/C cricket is not great, but its experience is still valuable. Every player needs game under his belt to develop as a player. As a mid-table team, Pakistan cannot afford the luxury of developing raw players in international cricket. In my opinion, a player should play at least 25-30 F/C games before getting considered for international selection. Exceptions can be made for fast bowlers but not for batsmen and spinners.
 
Mamoon said:
And the obsession with Pandya continues. After the heartbreak in the Faheem thread, it appears that some people want the same outcome with respect to Shadab as well. Pakistan simply does not have an all-rounder of his caliber at the moment and I do not understand why it is so hard for some people to digest.

Pandya is not a finished article yet, but he is the most exciting all-rounder to come out of Asia in years, and his best with the bat is far and beyond what Shadab is capable of. Yes the latter is young and bla bla, but we will see where he stands 4-5 years from now.

Shadab got hold of a few the other night, but he is not a reliable hitter down the order and neither is he a good middle-order batsman. 9/10 times, he will get caught in the deep for 10 or 15 runs in the slog overs and if he comes to the crease in the middle-overs, he ends up doing tuk tuk which explains his embarrassing SR. He is a bunny against spin bowling and does not have the skill to manoeuvre the field or build an innings.

The highlight of his career so far was the 4 (28) in the must-win match against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup when he arrived at the crease at 80/4 in the 20th over with 239 to win.

As a spinner, he has been average against the major teams. Simply put, Pakistan is going nowhere with Shadab as its frontline spinner in Limited Overs. This combo of Shadab + Imad or Nawaz simply does not work, and we will continue to be humiliated by teams like India and Bangladesh on Asian wickets as we saw in the Asia Cup.

Imad is brilliant at what he does, but he is not a wicket-taker. He performs a niche role where he goes through 10 or 4 dry overs in quick time, and any wicket that he takes is a bonus. He has taken over the role that Hafeez occupied for years, when he would chuck through economical spells game after game.

Pakistan is in dire need of a specialist spinner in Limited Overs. Someone who is picked purely on bowling merit and not for his fake batting or theatrics in the field. Someone who could provide some competition to the leading Limited Overs spinners in the world such as Rashid, Kuldeep, Chahal etc. Pitching the likes of Shadab against them is like bringing a knife to a gun fight.

In spite of the talent crisis in Pakistan and the undeniable dearth of quality players, I find it hard to believe that there is not a single spinner in the country who is better than Shadab in Limited Overs. I am not going to name players because I don't want to hype them, but I don't care if it is Zafar Gohar or Usama Mir or Asghar - surely there must be someone who can do better than Shadab with the ball.

Shadab and Imad need to compete for one spot and not play in tandem. For all the hype and the golden boy treatment, the former so far has not proved himself to be a better player than the latter. Their bowling is more or less at the same level - Shadab takes a wicket or two more, but Imad tends to be more economical. However, Imad has fared much better with the bat so far.

At this point, Shadab is a flashy bits and pieces player and diving around like a dolphin in the field is not enough to cover it. No all-rounder in history has been equally good in both facets - every all-rounder had a stronger primary skill which was well supported by their secondary skills.

Shadab needs to decide if he wants to become a frontline spinner or a frontline batsman. Either way, he needs to play a lot of F/C cricket. International cricket is not for these fancy experiments or half-cooked players. He was picked on PSL hype and capitalised on some minnow bashing early in his career, but he has been found wanting against the good teams and also flopped in PSL last year.


It is not wrong to fast-track PSL performers, but it is important to ensure that the player also has considerable F/C experience. Someone with 5-6 F/C games under his belt is bound to struggle against the big teams in international cricket unless he is a once in a lifetime talent, which Shadab clearly is not.

Pakistan's F/C cricket is not great, but its experience is still valuable. Every player needs game under his belt to develop as a player. As a mid-table team, Pakistan cannot afford the luxury of developing raw players in international cricket. In my opinion, a player should play at least 25-30 F/C games before getting considered for international selection. Exceptions can be made for fast bowlers but not for batsmen and spinners.
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Very well written, I have to say Pakistan's spin bowling stocks are perhaps at an all-time low especially with regards to white ball cricket.

I also find it hard to understand why he is so over hyped on PP - some of these fans seem to be satisfied with such low standards. Batting at a SR of 70 is not suffice to classify him as an ODI all-rounder and like yourself I highly doubt he's the best specialist spinner in the country.

I just hope PSL can filter the best specialist spinner among the likes of Usama Mir, Asghar, Zafar Gohar and etc.
 
Mamoon said:
And the obsession with Pandya continues. After the heartbreak in the Faheem thread, it appears that some people want the same outcome with respect to Shadab as well. Pakistan simply does not have an all-rounder of his caliber at the moment and I do not understand why it is so hard for some people to digest.

Pandya is not a finished article yet, but he is the most exciting all-rounder to come out of Asia in years, and his best with the bat is far and beyond what Shadab is capable of. Yes the latter is young and bla bla, but we will see where he stands 4-5 years from now.

Shadab got hold of a few the other night, but he is not a reliable hitter down the order and neither is he a good middle-order batsman. 9/10 times, he will get caught in the deep for 10 or 15 runs in the slog overs and if he comes to the crease in the middle-overs, he ends up doing tuk tuk which explains his embarrassing SR. He is a bunny against spin bowling and does not have the skill to manoeuvre the field or build an innings.

The highlight of his career so far was the 4 (28) in the must-win match against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup when he arrived at the crease at 80/4 in the 20th over with 239 to win.

As a spinner, he has been average against the major teams. Simply put, Pakistan is going nowhere with Shadab as its frontline spinner in Limited Overs. This combo of Shadab + Imad or Nawaz simply does not work, and we will continue to be humiliated by teams like India and Bangladesh on Asian wickets as we saw in the Asia Cup.

Imad is brilliant at what he does, but he is not a wicket-taker. He performs a niche role where he goes through 10 or 4 dry overs in quick time, and any wicket that he takes is a bonus. He has taken over the role that Hafeez occupied for years, when he would chuck through economical spells game after game.

Pakistan is in dire need of a specialist spinner in Limited Overs. Someone who is picked purely on bowling merit and not for his fake batting or theatrics in the field. Someone who could provide some competition to the leading Limited Overs spinners in the world such as Rashid, Kuldeep, Chahal etc. Pitching the likes of Shadab against them is like bringing a knife to a gun fight.

In spite of the talent crisis in Pakistan and the undeniable dearth of quality players, I find it hard to believe that there is not a single spinner in the country who is better than Shadab in Limited Overs. I am not going to name players because I don't want to hype them, but I don't care if it is Zafar Gohar or Usama Mir or Asghar - surely there must be someone who can do better than Shadab with the ball.

Shadab and Imad need to compete for one spot and not play in tandem. For all the hype and the golden boy treatment, the former so far has not proved himself to be a better player than the latter. Their bowling is more or less at the same level - Shadab takes a wicket or two more, but Imad tends to be more economical. However, Imad has fared much better with the bat so far.

At this point, Shadab is a flashy bits and pieces player and diving around like a dolphin in the field is not enough to cover it. No all-rounder in history has been equally good in both facets - every all-rounder had a stronger primary skill which was well supported by their secondary skills.

Shadab needs to decide if he wants to become a frontline spinner or a frontline batsman. Either way, he needs to play a lot of F/C cricket. International cricket is not for these fancy experiments or half-cooked players. He was picked on PSL hype and capitalised on some minnow bashing early in his career, but he has been found wanting against the good teams and also flopped in PSL last year.


It is not wrong to fast-track PSL performers, but it is important to ensure that the player also has considerable F/C experience. Someone with 5-6 F/C games under his belt is bound to struggle against the big teams in international cricket unless he is a once in a lifetime talent, which Shadab clearly is not.

Pakistan's F/C cricket is not great, but its experience is still valuable. Every player needs game under his belt to develop as a player. As a mid-table team, Pakistan cannot afford the luxury of developing raw players in international cricket. In my opinion, a player should play at least 25-30 F/C games before getting considered for international selection. Exceptions can be made for fast bowlers but not for batsmen and spinners.
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Excellent post. Shadab currently epitomises the phrase bits and pieces. He makes scant contributions with the bat, with a batting average of 24 against top sides in ODIs at a lamentable SR, and averages 38 with the ball despite being our frontline spinner !

Like Faheem, his stats are inflated by SL and WI bashing. The test of an AR is whether they can match a specialist's output in at least one department. Both Shadab and Fahim fail this test.

But how did we get here ? It's because we go gaga over players after one good PSL campaign and fail to look at their domestic careers as a WHOLE. Asif Ali is a prime example.

It's not that T20 leagues can't be a useful breeding ground for talent. They are good ways to test a youngster's nerve under pressure in front of big crowds. The IPL has produced some excellent talent. However it's comical to compare PSL to IPL, Big Bash or even CPL.

Let's be frank. The PSL of mediocre quality. The leading runscorers in the PSL have been 37 yr old Luke Ronchi and the Akmal brothers. The PSL products bar Sharjeel Khan, Fakhar Zaman and Hasan Ali (who possessed strong domestic and A team records anyway) have been exposed at intenational level. The bowling standards are better, especially in spin, but they bowl to pathetic Pakistani batsmen and UAE are spin friendly conditions anyway.

Shadab has potential to be a genuine AR but his weak performances shows what happens when you fast-track players with little domestic experience. He must work on improving his strike rotation and power hitting, and improve his control as he keeps giving away one hit me ball per over.
 
People need to understand that he's always been primarily picked as a spinner not an AR. His batting is a plus. He's contributed with the bat when main batsmen couldn't. I can understand that his form with the ball has regressed but he should be given time to develop his game more and learn more about the role. As I already said he should play in FC cricket instead of tests to develop his game.
 
Mamoon said:
And the obsession with Pandya continues. After the heartbreak in the Faheem thread, it appears that some people want the same outcome with respect to Shadab as well. Pakistan simply does not have an all-rounder of his caliber at the moment and I do not understand why it is so hard for some people to digest.

Pandya is not a finished article yet, but he is the most exciting all-rounder to come out of Asia in years, and his best with the bat is far and beyond what Shadab is capable of. Yes the latter is young and bla bla, but we will see where he stands 4-5 years from now.

Shadab got hold of a few the other night, but he is not a reliable hitter down the order and neither is he a good middle-order batsman. 9/10 times, he will get caught in the deep for 10 or 15 runs in the slog overs and if he comes to the crease in the middle-overs, he ends up doing tuk tuk which explains his embarrassing SR. He is a bunny against spin bowling and does not have the skill to manoeuvre the field or build an innings.

The highlight of his career so far was the 4 (28) in the must-win match against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup when he arrived at the crease at 80/4 in the 20th over with 239 to win.

As a spinner, he has been average against the major teams. Simply put, Pakistan is going nowhere with Shadab as its frontline spinner in Limited Overs. This combo of Shadab + Imad or Nawaz simply does not work, and we will continue to be humiliated by teams like India and Bangladesh on Asian wickets as we saw in the Asia Cup.

Imad is brilliant at what he does, but he is not a wicket-taker. He performs a niche role where he goes through 10 or 4 dry overs in quick time, and any wicket that he takes is a bonus. He has taken over the role that Hafeez occupied for years, when he would chuck through economical spells game after game.

Pakistan is in dire need of a specialist spinner in Limited Overs. Someone who is picked purely on bowling merit and not for his fake batting or theatrics in the field. Someone who could provide some competition to the leading Limited Overs spinners in the world such as Rashid, Kuldeep, Chahal etc. Pitching the likes of Shadab against them is like bringing a knife to a gun fight.

In spite of the talent crisis in Pakistan and the undeniable dearth of quality players, I find it hard to believe that there is not a single spinner in the country who is better than Shadab in Limited Overs. I am not going to name players because I don't want to hype them, but I don't care if it is Zafar Gohar or Usama Mir or Asghar - surely there must be someone who can do better than Shadab with the ball.

Shadab and Imad need to compete for one spot and not play in tandem. For all the hype and the golden boy treatment, the former so far has not proved himself to be a better player than the latter. Their bowling is more or less at the same level - Shadab takes a wicket or two more, but Imad tends to be more economical. However, Imad has fared much better with the bat so far.

At this point, Shadab is a flashy bits and pieces player and diving around like a dolphin in the field is not enough to cover it. No all-rounder in history has been equally good in both facets - every all-rounder had a stronger primary skill which was well supported by their secondary skills.

Shadab needs to decide if he wants to become a frontline spinner or a frontline batsman. Either way, he needs to play a lot of F/C cricket. International cricket is not for these fancy experiments or half-cooked players. He was picked on PSL hype and capitalised on some minnow bashing early in his career, but he has been found wanting against the good teams and also flopped in PSL last year.


It is not wrong to fast-track PSL performers, but it is important to ensure that the player also has considerable F/C experience. Someone with 5-6 F/C games under his belt is bound to struggle against the big teams in international cricket unless he is a once in a lifetime talent, which Shadab clearly is not.

Pakistan's F/C cricket is not great, but its experience is still valuable. Every player needs game under his belt to develop as a player. As a mid-table team, Pakistan cannot afford the luxury of developing raw players in international cricket. In my opinion, a player should play at least 25-30 F/C games before getting considered for international selection. Exceptions can be made for fast bowlers but not for batsmen and spinners.
Click to expand...

It’s fair to say that shadab isn’t consistent enough at either batting/bowling to be an automatic selection at this point in his career. It’s unfair to say he’s only performed against minnows. He played a really important role at CT17 at just 18/19 years old. He also performed admirably in the BBL in completely foreign conditions. That’s not something ordinary cricketers can just handle at his age, he clearly has a calm head and great self-belief which are important qualities in a young athlete.

If you were making the same argument against Fakhar, it might make sense only because he’s 29 and you can’t reasonably project much improvement. With Shadab, the whole point is to get him reps at the international level, its rare to find guys with real potential in all three areas of the game. It’s even rarer when their 20 and seem to have a stable head on their shoulders (not always a given with Pakistani prospects). It’s foolish to assume he’s going to be the same cricketer he is now at 26. If people are willing to be patient with him, he could turn into a genuine quality all rounder in all three formats.

The F/C setup in Pakistan might hurt Shadab more than help him. There’s a reason Shaheen was picked for the national team as soon as he got on Mickeys radar. He was identified as a special talent and Mickey wanted to make sure his development wasn’t left to the domestic system. Shadab’s playing regularly and getting the best coaching available to him. If we’re serious about developing him, he has to stay with the senior team.
 
Good performance in BPL.

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His batting has regressed at one stage he looked a genuine test number 7 prospect now he is no better then a #9 with very little development in his bowling.

Him and and his mate Hassan are the biggest disappointment post Amir-Umer era.
 
Shadab Khan has played 9 Test innings, with 3 fifties and a 47 not out. Averaging 34.28.

In the same period,

Azhar Ali has in the same time reached fifty just 6 times in 28 Test innings, at an average of 27.00.

And Haris Sohail has reached fifty just 2 times in 18 innings and averages 33.41.

Shadab Khan in 2020 is a superior Test batsman to the veteran versions of Azhar Ali and Haris Sohail.
 
Not much to really go off. Even the LQ PD tournament has a vastly superior standard of fast bowling.
 
Showing his inconsistency today good innings with the bat but poor with the bowl going at 12 an over to cost his team any chance of a win.
He needs improvement to make it in international cricket should be dropped from limited overs for a more potent and better spinner.
 
60 odd, a couple of wickets, wickets throughout the BPL...it is good to see Shadab back in cricket. He needs to stay fit, get his groove back in the PSL and he should be picked for all future Pakistan LOI as well as some of the tests.
 
Shadab should be persisted with

We don’t have many players with raw ingredients to become all rounders
 
He's got real batting chops, and I'm surprised he hasn't been given more of an opportunity with the bat, either in international or domestic.

And he's not good enough of a bowler to have an extended international career as a bowler
 
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