Ex-captain likens Shadab Khan’s role to that of Shane Warne

Pakistan former captain turned-cricket-commentator Ramiz Raja slammed the national cricket selectors for benching Shadab Khan against Australia, after the Men in Green lost the crucial World Cup encounter by 41 runs on Wednesday.

“How can you [the selectors] bench Shadab Khan, it is beyond my understanding. They saw a bit of green on the pitch and a number of left-handers in Australian batting line so they decided that Shadab would be useless," said Raja.

“This is the same as we say to Shane Warne that he could not play because of a green track and left hand batsmen, because for me Shadab has the same importance as Warne in this line-up,” he added.

Raja further said that Shadab would have picked up the wicket of Aussie opening batsman David Warner, as batsmen are not able to pick the leggie’s goggly. “If Shadab can bamboozle Jason Roy with the new ball, then Warner too is a batsman of the similar frame of mind,” he said.

Raja further criticised Pakistan for their ‘rubbish’ fielding, particularly criticizing Asif Ali who dropped a couple of catches in the match. “Asif Ali needs to work on his fitness, if he wants to play international cricket and take those responsibilities.”

Pakistan looked poor against the Aussies in the fielding department dropping three catches amid other misfields. After a disappointing loss against Australia, the Sarfaraz Ahmed-led side would eye to bounce back against arch rivals India in the much anticipated ICC World Cup encounter on Sunday at Old Trafford.