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Former Pakistan selector Basit Ali criticized all-rounder Shadab Khan and his inclusion in the Pakistan ODI team after the leg-spinner failed to deliver in the first ODI against Australia on Saturday.
Ali spoke on a panel with ARY News after Pakistan's 5-wicket win that gave them a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Pakistan win 1,000th ODI
The game in Rawalpindi was a historic occasion, as it was the 1,000th ODI ever played by Pakistan. Only Australia and India hit the mark before Pakistan.
Pakistan elected to bowl first and made merry of the occasion. On a surface helpful to spin, Pakistan tied the visitors down. Matthew Short and Matt Renshaw made fifties, but the rest of the batting order crumbled under the pressure of debutant left-arm spinner Arafat Minhas.
Minhas had impressed at the Under-19 level before being called up to the senior team, and he made the occasion count. Minhas ended the day with figures of 5/32 in his 10 overs, becoming the first Pakistan player to take a five-wicket haul on ODI debut.
Abrar Ahmed also took two wickets while Salman Agha, Shaheen Afridi, and Haris Rauf took a wicket each.
Babar Azam and Ghazi Ghori made 69 and 65, respectively, to give the team an easy win while chasing 201. Minhas, fittingly, hit the winning runs with a six off Marnus Labuschagne.
"Why is Shadab Khan in this team?" - Basit Ali
After the match, Basit Ali tore into Shadab for his poor performances 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, specifically, the ODI World Cup that year. On Saturday, Shadab Khan was under par.
Of the six bowlers used by Pakistan in the match, Shadab was the only one to return wicketless. 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, an economy rate of 6.75. No other Pakistan bowler conceded at more than 4.4 runs per over.
Shadab's wicketless spell on Saturday meant that he has now gone wicketless in each of his last five ODIs. And in one of them, he wasn't asked to bowl at all.
"You tell me, Shadab Khan has not played ODI cricket for three years now, so how did he come back into the team? He has not played ODI cricket; he has only played the PSL. After bowling four overs a day for three years, how can you bring him back to the ODI team?" Basit Ali questioned.
"This is blatant favouritism. Basit Ali was the first person to select Shadab Khan for Under-19 cricket. But when there is no performance, and you parachute the players into the team, the youngsters will not be happy. The youngsters will remain silent because of the PCB and the selectors, but these things damage Pakistan cricket in the end," he said.
Also listening in was Shadab's father-in-law and legendary Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who was seated on the same panel.
Basit Ali criticizing Shadab Khan in front of Saqlain Mushtaq. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/QUKK0RStuS
— Sheri. (@CallMeSheri1_) May 31, 2026
Shadab Khan in ODIs
Since making his ODI debut in 2017, Shadab Khan has been rather inconsistent in the format, which ultimately led to his axing in 2023.
In ODIs, he has taken 85 wickets in 71 matches at a bowling average of 35.45 and an economy rate of 5.26. He has also made 855 runs in 44 innings at an average of 25.9 and a strike rate of 86.
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