Sarfaraz says Shadab Khan capable to lead Pakistan’s national side

KARACHI: Quetta Gladiators captain Sarfaraz Ahmed on Wednesday said skipper of Islamabad United Shadab Khan was a fantastic player and he had the capability to lead the national side as well.

“He is a brilliant player with capability for captaincy. He can definitely be a probable for captaincy of Pakistan cricket team,” former Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz said while addressing a joint press conference with Shadab Khan in Karachi.

To a query, he said he would like to say good luck to Shadab on assuming charge as full-time captain of Islamabad United. ”It is a good sign that Islamabad United have made someone, who joined them as a young man, a captain. Hopefully, he will perform well for his team,” he maintained.

On rumours about proposal for his name for captaincy of one format, Shadab Khan said he had never thought about it. All he thought was to perform better for his team for its win, he said adding that for the moment he was totally occupied with the PSL 2020.

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Shane Watson and Jason Roy will be the opening pair for their team, Sarfaraz said adding that Ahmed Shehzad would be playing at number three.

“We have quality players in our squad, so we have no difficulty in making the choice. We will make sure that we go with the right combination of the team in the ground,” he said.

The wicket-keeper skipper of Quetta Gladiators said staging of the the Pakistan Super League in Pakistan had built confidence of the international players to come and play here. “Shane Watson is one fine example. Hopefully, more international teams will come to Pakistan for cricket in the future,” he said.

To a query about if he had any pressure of giving performance to make a comeback in the national squad, he said he had no such pressure, however the pressure of defending the title was surely on his team. “We will like to carry forward the spirit of cricket with which we have played earlier.”

Sarfaraz Ahmed said, “With the full edition of this PSL being played in Pakistan, I hope it will inspire a whole generation to take up the game of cricket as their chosen career, as they will see many stars playing in front of them.”

Shadab said foreign players had shown excitement to play in Pakistan. He apprised that Dale Steyn will miss first three matches, then he will join them for the rest of the tournament.