Shadab Khan Rising to the Occasion Silently in Asia Cup 2022

Shadab Khan is only 23 but has already seen the highs and lows of what could happen in a career. From being a regular in all formats, Shadab Khan fell prey to excessive experimentation. Trying too much did not work well as Shadab Khan was quickly shunted from the Test format. His prominence in the line-up has also reduced in the limited overs formats up until this Asia Cup.

Being a leg-spinner leaves very little room for error. While leg-spin often helps pick up a handful of wickets, it can also be carted for a huge number of runs given the aggression at which bowlers go about their business. With a tough job on hand, Shadab Khan experimented too much to further complicate the situation for him.

Now, after time out of the team, and after an injury, Shadab Khan’s focus is to hit the same spot while bowling. His Googly and Flipper were among his greatest weapons early on and he is now trying to make them as dangerous as they once were for him. While Shadab did drop with the ball, he continued to improve in other aspects.

His batting has been constantly improving, and it is something he is working on nicely. For both Pakistan and Islamabad United, Shadab Khan is proving his worth with priceless runs at the back end of an innings. In the ongoing Asia Cup, Shadab Khan is doing well to pull sides back. He stalled the innings against India, preventing them from getting to 200 after a really good start. Against Afghanistan too, Shadab Khan choked the batters and also picked up wickets through the innings to dent Afghanistan.

Along with his bowling, Shadab Khan supported well with the bat. Coming in at five, he had a steady knock, taking the game deep and would have got more credit had it not been for a dramatic finish. This tournament though has seen Shadab Khan come into the light. With the ball, he is not a big turner. His accuracy though is a huge weapon. While batting, his calmness sets him apart more than his ability to hit the ball a long way. He is a calculative cricketer and there are a lot of promising signs on what he has to offer going forward.