Shadab Khan picks wickets of Joe Root, Yuvraj Singh as his favorites

Young Pakistani leg spinner Shadab Khan is having the time of his life. At a bare age of 18, he has made an impact at the biggest stage of the game. He has almost cemented his place in the limited overs cricket for his national side and looks like a bright prospect for the national side. Shadab was one of the key performers for the Pakistani team that lifted the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy 2017.

Shadab Khan had made his international debut earlier this year against West Indies in the T20Is. He had impressed everyone with a three-wicket and a four wicket haul in his very first series in the national colors. He then performed decently enough in the ODI series against West Indies that followed. His good run in the two series saw him earn a place in the Pakistan squad for the mega ICC event.

Not always a leggie

Needless to say, there is no stopping now and there is no looking back for Shadab now. Surprisingly though, not many people know about the fact that Shadab was not always a leg spinner. He had started as a pace bowler during his early days in the sport. It was one of his mentors who persuaded him to become a leg spinner and the results are there to be seen now. There are several other unknown facts about him.

“I started off as a fast bowler during the initial phase of my club cricket. However, my club president urged me to become a leg spinner and that’s how I switched to leg spin,” quoted Shadab Khan to BBC Urdu.

The big wickets

Recalling the best moments that he had in the Champions Trophy, Shadab picked the wickets of Yuvraj Singh and Joe Root to be his favorite ones. He had dismissed Yuvraj in the finals of the tournament and had the better of Root in the semis.

“Joe Root is among world’s best batsman along with Yuvraj, so I enjoyed picking up their wickets,” he said.