The all-rounder said that he backs his team to perform better in upcoming matches of the series
25 March, 2023
PHOTO: PCB
Pakistan stand-in captain, Shadab Khan, is hopeful of a better showing by his young team in the next match after suffering a six-wicket defeat to Afghanistan in first T20I in Sharjah on Friday.
This victory marked Afghanistan's first win over Pakistan in T20Is.
Pakistan gave T20I debuts to four players, including left-handed opening batter Saim Ayub, Tayyab Tahir, Ihsanullah, and Zaman Khan.
While speaking in the post-match ceremony, the all-rounder said that he backs his team to perform better in upcoming matches of the series.
"This series is for our youngsters. We tried to give them confidence. Sometimes, this can happen due to the nerves of international cricket but we have to back them because they have the talent, and hopefully, they'll show it in the next game,” Shadab said.
“These players are talented and we are sure about that. We should not make someone a star after just one good performance or discard them after one failure. We will back these players and give them full opportunity to perform during the series,” he added.
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Pakistan's batting struggled to gain momentum as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Imad Wasim top-scored for Pakistan with 18 runs off 32 balls, while Saim scored 17 off 15 balls which included two fours and a six. However, the rest of the Pakistani batters failed to make significant contributions, and the team was eventually ended up scoring 92 runs for the loss of nine wickets in their 20 overs.
Shadab accepted the fact that their batting didn’t perform up to the mark and they need to rectify their mistakes in order to make a comeback in the series.
“Our bowling and fielding was really good but unfortunately our batting was not up to the mark. However, I’m hopeful that these players will step up like they did in the PSL,” he said.
