Shadab | Pakistan

Featuring for Pakistan for the first time since June last year, Shadab Khan impressed with the ball, teaming up with Abrar Ahmed as Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by six wickets in the opening fixture of the three-match Twenty20 International series at the Rangiri Dambulla Cricket Stadium on Wednesday. The all-rounder took two wickets, while Abrar hunted three victims to restrict Sri Lanka to a paltry 128-run total before Sahibzada Farhan’s half century helped Pakistan chase down the target with 20 balls to spare. Shadab gave away only 25 runs in his four overs, bagging both his wickets in his very first over and could have gone on to take a third had it not been for a dropped catch later on. Coming into bowl in the seventh over, after Mohammad Wasim and Salman Mirza’s pace — that accounted for a wicket for each — saw Sri Lanka post 35-2 in the powerplay, Shadab trapped a sweeping Kusal Mendis lbw and induced an inside edge off Dhananjaya de Silva’s bat for wicket-keeper Usman Khan to take a good catch. With Sri Lan...

All-rounder Shadab Khan has been recalled to Pakistan’s T20I set-up, while senior players Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi have been left out as the national selectors on Sunday announced a 15-member squad for next month’s three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. The squad will be led by Salman Ali Agha, who enjoyed a heavy workload in the format this year, featuring in a record 34 T20Is — the most by any Pakistan player in a calendar year. Shadab, 27, last played a T20I for Pakistan in June before undergoing shoulder surgery earlier this year. After completing a successful rehabilitation programme at the National Cricket Academy, the leg-spinning all-rounder is currently in action in Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL), a factor that appears to have aided his return to international contention. While Babar and Shaheen’s omission is notable, both players are also currently featuring in the BBL, and their absence is understood to be part of a broader rotation policy rather than a permanent exclusion. With th...