‘We don’t have the silverware for it to be endorsed’ – Shadab Khan on redefining face of T20 cricket in Pakistan

Shadab Khan of Pakistan. (Photo Source: Getty Images)

Pakistan spinner Shadab Khan opened up on how the national team is unable to redefine the norms in T20 cricket. The vice-captain of the Men in Green further highlighted that the lack of winning major trophies has essentially led to no change in their approach.

Shadab, who is also the skipper of Islamabad United (IU) in the Pakistan Super League, spoke at length regarding the franchise’s approach to develop modern-day cricketers. He outlined that the star overseas signings have helped the young cricketers in their development, however, such was not the case in the national team.

“The rest of the team management and I, at Islamabad United (IU), wanted to develop modern-day players. With that thought in mind, we picked the best overseas talent so that our youngsters can feed off of them, so that as and when they play international cricket, they don’t have to alter their game in a big way,” Shadab Khan told Cricbuzz.

“As the management we are ready to accept failures that come in our way because we realise the perils of high intensity and high strike rate approach and back our players by giving them a sense of security. As far as why Pakistan team hasn’t adopted that approach, it’s probably because we don’t have the silverware for it to be endorsed from all corners. We haven’t been champions for a while so maybe that is the reason there is not a lot of talk to adopt that approach,” he added.

Shadab Khan to play MLC 2023

While the league has produced quite a few young stars over the years, it remains to be seen if the think tank will consider their selection in the national team in the coming years. Speaking about the matches, Pakistan will next be seen in action against Sri Lanka, as they will lock horns in two Tests, scheduled to begin on July 16.

On the other hand, Shadab is not part of the Test setup for the tour of Sri Lanka as he will travel to the USA for the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2023. The spinner will don the San Francisco Unicorns outfit as they play their first match against MI New York in Texas on July 14.