• Source:JND
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Former Pakistan stars Shoaib Akhtar and Wahab Riaz want the side to drop vice-captain Shadab Khan for the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023 match against Australia in Chennai.

All-rounder Shadab has so far played a miniscule part in Pakistan's campaign in the marquee tournament with only two wickets and 34 runs in three matches. The spinner is also not completing his 10 overs of quota in each match.

Pakistan lost against arch-rivals India in their last match in Ahmedabad on Saturday and failed to break the jinx against hosts in World Cups. With two wins against Netherlands and Sri Lanka, Pakistan will face a tough clash against Australia on a spin-dominating pitch at MA Chidambaram Stadium.

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“Shadab is no doubt is a very good bowler, but he is struggling. If you see Adam Zampa too was not able to land his leg-spin on the correct spot even though he has bagged four wickets against Sri Lanka in Lucknow on Monday, but his sliders and googlies were landing correctly. As far as Shadab is concerned, the Pakistan cricket team expect ten overs from him, not four or six. That’s why I feel he should be changed,” Malik said on A Sports.

Wahab Riaz also backed Malik's opinion and added that Shadab and Mohammad Nawaz should not play together in the playing 11.

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“Shadab and Nawaz should not play together for Pakistan. I would rather have Usama Mir in place of either of those two. Pakistan have been obsessed with all-rounders, but we haven’t been able to understand who our strike bowler is if pacers don’t deliver. You need to have bowlers who give you wickets,” Wahab Riaz told PAK Skills.

Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq asserted that Pakistan should give a chance to mystery spinner Abrar Ahmad, who is travelling with the team as a reserve player.

“Abrar should play. In the PSL, he used to bowl in the powerplay. In the tournaments, a team will face you once only, unlike in a bilateral series. He could have been a mystery bowler and he should have been considered for the World Cup,” he told A Sports.