Shadab Khan reveals reason behind improved batting show

Islamabad United captain Shadab Khan believes moving up the batting order and participating in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), earlier this year, played a massive role in improving his batting.

The 21-year-old all-rounder displayed rich vein of form with the bat in the now-suspended fifth season of Pakistan Super League (PSL), as he scored 263 runs at an average of 37.57 and a strike-rate of 159.39.

While speaking in a YouTube video, Shadab emphasised that self-belief is the key to success as a batsman.

“I changed my number [in the batting order]. Going to play in BPL has been the best decision of my career so far,” Shadab said. “Even though I didn’t play the initial matches, but I used to bat in the nets there for three to four hours against quality bowlers. I also performed with the bat in some matches, which increased my confidence and gave me self-belief.”

ALSO READ: 'PCB chairmen are temporary, Umar Akmal is permanent'

The Mianwali-born cricketer shared his experience of leading Islamabad United and also revealed his favourite innings of PSL 5.

“I enjoyed my experience as a captain and my performances also improved because of it as I thrive under pressure,” he said “My favourite moment in PSL was when I scored 77 against Peshawar. I particularly enjoyed scoring against Wahab bhai because we had challenged each other earlier in BPL.”

When Shadab was asked to pick the toughest batsman he has bowled to in his international career, he took the names of Australian batsman Steve Smith and Indian opener Rohit Sharma.

“I had difficulty bowling to Steve Smith as I bowled him in Australia where ball doesn’t spin much,” he said. “After Steve Smith, I found Rohit Sharma to be the most difficult as there is very little margin of error against him. If you bowl into his zone, then he will hit you for a six.”