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Former Pakistan selector Basit Ali on Saturday criticized all-rounder Shadab Khan and his inclusion in the Pakistan ODI squad after the leg spinner failed in the first ODI against Australia on Saturday.
Ali spoke on a panel with ARY News after Pakistan’s 5-wicket win, which gave them a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Pakistan won 1,000th ODI
The game in Rawalpindi was a historic occasion, as it was the 1,000th ODI played by Pakistan. Before Pakistan, only Australia and India have achieved this feat.
Pakistan decided to bowl first and made the most of the opportunity. Pakistan kept the visitors occupied on a surface conducive to spin. Matthew Short and Matt Renshaw scored fifties, but the rest of the batting order collapsed under the pressure of debutant left-arm spinner Arafat Minhas.
Minhas had impressed at under-19 level before being called up to the senior team and he valued the opportunity. Minhas ended the day with figures of 5/32 from his 10 overs, becoming the first Pakistani player to take a five-for on ODI debut.
Abrar Ahmed also took two wickets while Salman Agha, Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf took one wicket each.
Babar Azam and Ghazi Ghori scored 69 and 65 runs respectively to give the team a comfortable win while chasing 201 runs. Minhas scored the winning run by hitting a six off Marnus Labuschagne.
“Why is Shadab Khan in this team?”. -Basit Ali
After the match, Basit Ali reprimanded Shadab for his poor performance and his sudden re-entry into the team after a long absence.
Saturday’s game was Shadab’s first One Day International since November 2023, notably, that year’s ODI World Cup. Shadab Khan was at under level on Saturday.
Of the six bowlers used by Pakistan in the match, Shadab was the only one to return without taking a wicket. Despite Australia scoring at a rate of 4.5 runs per over (200 runs in 44 overs), Shadab Khan conceded 54 runs in 8 overs at an economy rate of 6.75. No other Pakistani bowler gave more than 4.4 runs per over.
Shadab’s wicketless spell on Saturday means he has now gone wicketless in each of his last five ODIs. And in one of them he was not even asked to bowl.
“You tell me, Shadab Khan has not played ODI cricket for three years now, so how does he come back into the team? He has not played ODI cricket; he has only played PSL. After bowling four overs a day for three years, how do you get him back into the ODI team?” Basit Ali asked a question.
He said, “This is blatant favoritism. Basit Ali was the first person to select Shadab Khan for Under-19 cricket. But when there is no performance and you parachute players into the team, the youth will not be happy. The young players will remain silent because of the PCB and the selectors, but these things harm Pakistan cricket in the end.”
Also listening was Shadab’s father-in-law and Pakistan’s great off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who was sitting on the same panel.
Basit Ali criticizing Shadab Khan in front of Saqlain Mushtaq. pic.twitter.com/QUKK0RStuS
– Sherry. (@CallMeSheri1_) May 31, 2026
Shadab Khan in ODI
Since making his ODI debut in 2017, Shadab Khan has been inconsistent in the format, which ultimately led to his exit in 2023.
In ODIs, he has taken 85 wickets in 71 matches at a bowling average of 35.45 and economy rate of 5.26. He has also scored 855 runs in 44 innings at an average of 25.9 and strike rate of 86.
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