Shadab Khan has not been picked for the 2025 Champions Trophy and is instead leading the Shaheens in the warm-up games ahead of the tournament. Sarah Waris looks at the likely reasons for his absence.
Shadab, Pakistan’s vice-captain during the 2023 ODI World Cup, has not played a 50-over game since the end of that competition. The leg-spinner is also a handy batter, who gives the team the option of tweaking the line-up according to match-ups and situations. However, Shadab’s poor showing in the ODI World Cup - he scored only 121 runs in five innings at an average of 24.20 and picked just two wickets, has seen him getting sidelined ever since.
His indifferent form has extended since the start of January 2022 - While he averaged 28.06 with the bat in the last three years, his bowling fortunes have dwindled. Shadab has picked up only 23 wickets in 22 matches, averaging 42.26, with a strike rate of 46. That’s roughly one wicket per game if he sends down his full quota of overs each time.
The lack of standout performances has seen Shadab miss Pakistan’s ODI tours to Australia and South Africa. He was also not named in the squad for the recent tri-series, with the side calling up Khushdil Shah after a gap of three years instead.
Khushdil vs Shadab - Why did Khushdil edge ahead?
Khushdil’s selection after a considerable gap suggests that Pakistan were on the lookout for a spin all-rounder in their Champions Trophy team. So, why not pick Shadab, who has played 70 ODIs and has greater experience in ICC events, over Khushdil, who has yet to play an ICC event in the format?
Before the recent tri-series, Khushdil had played 10 ODIs, averaging 33.16 with the bat, but he had picked up just two wickets at an average of 61. During the recent competition, he played all three games, picking one wicket and scoring 22 runs.
Ahead of the tri-series, Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan had explained the rationale behind his selection: “About Khushdil Shah, look at the Bangladesh Premier League or the Champions Cup. His performance is in front of you and there is no conversation to be had about that.”
Playing for the Rangpur Riders, Khushdil scored 298 runs at an average of 59.60, also striking at 175.29. He also got 17 wickets at 9.94. In contrast, Shadab’s recent T20 form has not been great either. In his last two T20 competitions, the Lanka Premier League and the Champions T20 Cup, Shadab has managed a total of 74 runs in 12 innings. He did pick up 17 wickets at an average of 12.17 in the LPL but only sent down three overs in the Champions T20 Cup. With Pakistan needing a spin all-rounder in the absence of injured Saim Ayub, Khushdil, on current form (albeit in a different format) edged ahead.
But what about List A form?
Pakistan also called up pace all-rounder Faheem Ashraf for the Champions Trophy. He last played an ODI during the 2023 World Cup, but Rizwan credited his recent List A form for his comeback. Based on that reasoning, should Shadab’s recent List A form have been considered too?
Since the ODI World Cup, he has scored 223 runs in nine matches with two fifties at an average of 37.16, also picking up nine wickets. His knock of 81 in the President’s One Day Cup came in testing conditions too. His team Ghani Glass had been reduced to 93-5, when Shadab, at No.7, brought them back in the game. He also batted at more than run-a-ball, hitting four sixes as he took the side to 252.
Khushil’s recent List A form with the bat, however, pales in comparison: Since the 2024 season, he has averaged 26.22 with the bat and has 11 wickets at an average of 44.18.
Rizwan also claimed that Pakistan have gone in with one specialist spinner for the Champions Trophy because of the conditions that will be on offer. The debate between Khushil and Shadab thus, was who the better batter among the two was, and the former edged ahead on the back of recent T20 performances.
Shadab, meanwhile picked up 3-29 in the warm-up game against Afghanistan last week, where he is captaining Pakistan Shaheens.
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