Mickey Arthur loses a bet to Shadab Khan; takes the team out for dinner

Pakistan have been performing really well in their ongoing UK tour and they have managed to draw the two-match Test series against England. They also defeated Ireland in the one-off historic game which saw the hosts making their debut in the longest format of the game. One of the biggest positives on the tour for the visitors was the resurgence of Shadab Khan with the bat and has impressed the coach Mickey Arthur as well who lost a bet to the youngster.

The 19-year-old cricketer scored three half-centuries in as many Test matches and all the runs came at a time when his team needed the most. Pakistan was in trouble against Ireland in the first innings and it was his knock which bailed them out of the trouble. They also managed to take a hefty lead which eventually proved to be crucial in the end. Shadab was also instrumental in the historic victory over England at Lord’s when he went on to score 52 runs to pile on the agony on the home side.

What was the bet?

Prior to the start of the tour, Mickey Arthur had challenged Shadab Khan to improve his batting and the latter had told his coach that he will score three half-centuries. As it turned out, he managed to complete the task in the first innings of the second Test and saved the blushes for Pakistan who were struggling at 79/7. Shadab batted maturely with the tail and smashed his third 50-plus score on the tour. He went on score 56 runs off just 52 balls and propelled the score of the team to 174 runs.

Interestingly, after every half-century, the youngster used to indicate the count to his coach who was always seen smiling looking at his celebrations. Arthur, too obliged after losing the bet to him and took the team out for a dinner and was glad to see the committment from Shadab. “He [Shadab] did what he said he would,” he was quoted as saying by Geo.tv. However, he couldn’t do much with the ball and managed to scalp only 3 wickets. The leggie would love to improve in that aspect of the game in the near future.

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