Shadab backs ‘talented youngsters’ despite Afghanistan loss

SHARJAH: Pakistan captain Shadab Khan lent support to his young side despite the first-ever international defeat at the hands of Afghanistan in the first T20I of the three-match series here on Friday.

Pakistan fielded a young side in the first T20I, marking the debuts of Tayyab Tahir, Saim Ayub, Zaman Khan and Ihsanullah.

Meanwhile, Shadab, leading the fresh-look squad against Afghanistan, backed his youngsters and asserted that the nerves of international cricket may have affected their performance.

“This series is for our youngsters. We tried to give them confidence. Sometimes, this can happen due to the nerves of international cricket but we have to back them because they have the talent, and hopefully, they’ll show it in the next game,” said Shadab.

“These players are talented and we are sure about that. We should not make someone a star after just one good performance or discard them after one failure. We will back these players and give them full opportunity to perform during the series,” he added.

Opting to bat first in the opening T20I, Pakistan’s batting lineup faltered and the side could amass a meagre 92/9 in the allotted 20 overs, their fifth-lowest in T20Is.

Shadab also acknowledged the shortcomings of his side’s batting in the first T20I while hopeful that the young players will do better in the next game.

“Our bowling and fielding was really good but unfortunately our batting was not up to the mark. However, I’m hopeful that these players will step up like they did in the PSL,” Shadab stated.

It is pertinent to mention that all-round Nabi-inspired Afghanistan downed Pakistan by six wickets in the first T20I to mark their first-ever triumph over the green shirts in international cricket.