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Former cricketers slam Shadab Khan for ‘clueless’ captaincy

The victory on Friday marked Afghanistan's first win over Pakistan in T20Is

Former cricketers slam Shadab Khan for ‘clueless’ captaincy PHOTO: AFP

Former cricketers, Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt, have slammed Shadab Khan’s captaincy during Pakistan’s six-wicket loss to Afghanistan on Friday in Sharjah.

This victory marked Afghanistan's first win over Pakistan in T20Is.

“The coach [Abdul Rehman] is new so he must have been totally depending on Shadab Khan. Shadab is an experienced player and vice-captain of Pakistan for last two or three years. He was not able to read the pitch correctly. He couldn’t figure out what the pitch demanded and what kind of bowling was needed,” Akmal said on his YouTube channel.

“Plus, you have rested your five main players, so why are you also dropping Shan Masood and Iftikhar Ahmed. If you wanted to drop them, then you should have asked selectors to rest them as well. If you drop them as well, then you are bound to be under pressure. If there are four players making debut and three making comeback, then it would be difficult for players to perform,” he added.

Butt also criticised Shadab for not setting more attacking fields and selecting a wrong combination of players.

The pitch was conducive for slow bowling. Despite playing so much cricket, Shadab is bowling his fast bowlers and also bowling fast himself. There was no slip for Najib Zadran when he came onto bat. Afghanistan batsmen were struggling against Ihsanullah, but Shadab had kept the fielders at boundary. What is your reading of the pitch that you chose to bat on this pitch? That means you have no clue,” Butt said on his YouTube channel.

“You went with four fast-bowlers on this pitch, you were not playing in Perth,” he added.