Pakistan chief selector Haroon Rasheed feels that star all-rounder Shadab Khan has a future in Test cricket despite not having grabbed the opportunities that have come his way in the format thus far. In the upcoming away series in July, Pakistan will play two Test matches against Sri Lanka which will be their first assignment in the new World Test Championship cycle (2023-25).
Rasheed stated that Shadab Khan can't be ruled out of contention from red-ball cricket since they are considering selecting certain white-ball cricketers who can also play in the red-ball format. He did, however, acknowledge that it might be a challenge to bring players from limited-overs cricket and make them play Test cricket who have not featured in the longest format of the game for an extended period of time.
“You cannot rule him [Shadab Khan] out because we are also considering the idea that some of our white-ball cricketers can also play Test cricket. It's not that they cannot play, but our concern is that if they haven't played the longer format for a considerable amount of time, then suddenly taking them from white-ball to red-ball cricket might be a challenge,” Rasheed told Cricket Pakistan.
He then spoke about the physical requirements of Test cricket, remarking if a player isn't used to bowling 15 to 20 overs on a single day, how can they expect a bowler who bowls four overs in a spell to be any good? He added that they will first bring the players to first-class cricket and then monitor their improvement.
“If someone is not accustomed to bowling 15 to 20 overs in a single day, so how can we expect that a bowler, who bowls four overs in a spell, divided into two overs each, can bowl for extended periods. So, for that reason, we will first bring them into first-class cricket and then see their progress,” he added.
He further said that the players' performances in the forthcoming Test series would be the key to the selection process.
“Let's see how these Test matches unfold and how the players perform. We have a lot of competition in the bowling department, so whoever dominates over the others will do so based on their performance,” the selector concluded.
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