Shadab talks Imad’s inclusion, Shah brothers and letting Hasan Ali go

Pakistan cricketer, Shadab Khan, shed light on various aspects of the team's composition and decision-making process ahead of the upcoming ninth season of Pakistan Super League (PSL).

Addressing the inclusion of experienced all-rounder Imad Wasim in the squad, Shadab emphasized the significance of Imad's expertise and highlighted the potential improvement in batting depth and the availability of more bowling options.

"The kind of experience Imad has is what we needed. His arrival will further enhance our combination. When we both play together, our batting depth will increase, and we'll have more bowling options," Shadab said.

Shadab also revealed that Naseem Shah initially hesitated to include his brothers but stressed the importance of selecting the best options, especially in the emerging category.

"Naseem was under a lot of tension, and he was even refusing to take his brothers, but obviously, we had to look at our team and pick the best options, especially in the emerging category, which is the most important. Because if your emerging players are good, your team's combination becomes very strong. Hunain has been performing consistently for the past two seasons. And we weren't sure if Ubaid would last till our turn, but we got him," he further added.

Regarding Naseem's fitness, Shadab provided an update, indicating that the young pace bowler appears fully fit after overcoming an injury.

"We've played matches during the camp, and Naseem seems completely fit now. When you come back after an injury, it takes some time. Hopefully, we're hoping that from day one, we'll have the same Naseem again, but we'll also give him a fair amount of time because I know as a player it takes some time to regain form," Shadab stated.

Lastly, Shadab discussed the difficulty in letting go of players due to limited slots, mentioning the departure of Hasan Ali to Karachi Kings.

"We got stuck category wise because five players in our diamond category were such that we didn't want them to go anywhere. But someone had to go, so I think even the 'friendship' tag, which is an extra burden and a tag in our culture, has been removed. Hasan has gone to a new franchise with Shan Masood. With Islamabad, Karachi suits him too as a franchise given the nature he has. It was a tough decision, but we couldn't do anything about it, so we let him go," he concluded.