Former Pakistan spinner Saqlain Mushtaq defended his son-in-law Shadab Khan, blaming head coach Mike Hesson for not using all-rounders properly during the T20 World Cup.

 

Pakistan crashed out of the semi-final race despite beating Sri Lanka in their final Super Eight match. The team posted 213 and needed to restrict Sri Lanka to 147 to surpass New Zealand on Net Run Rate (NRR). Sri Lanka fell short by just five runs, knocking Pakistan out of the tournament.

 

At one stage, Pakistan needed to defend 27 runs from a target of 147 to achieve the required NRR. Shadab conceded 15 runs in one over and 18 in the 19th, leaking 33 runs across his two overs.

 

Fans and experts immediately criticised Shadab for his poor form, but Saqlain argued that the blame lay elsewhere.

 

 

Speaking on a TV program, he said, “There are two types of all-rounders: bowling all-rounders, batting all-rounders, and then a pure all-rounder. The ones we selected were in demand for both skills. I understand the rules; I know that there was a demand for their batting as well as bowling. But in bowling, their performance was not visible. I think the performance in bowling was not apparent.”

 

He added that the all-rounders weren’t used properly.

 

Saqlain continued, “When I was there, the selection committee gave me the information that they are equally good—they can bat and bowl—but your utilization has to be correct. If both [Nawaz and Shadab] were utilized properly, things could have been much better.”

 

He compared them with other international all-rounders, saying, “What is the performance of Mitchell Santner? How many wickets has Axar Patel taken? What I am saying is that I think Mike Hesson demanded too much from them in both batting and bowling and did not use them properly.”

 

Shadab Khan’s performance in the World Cup fell below expectations. He took five wickets in six matches while conceding 152 runs and scored 118 runs with the bat.