'We believe in miracles, will reach semifinal" - Shadab Khan pre-match press conference | PAK vs SA
Channel: Itx Mehboob
Date: 26/10/2023

Visit: https://cric-mate.com/

Reporter:]

The position of the team at the moment, an assessment has been made that the team is not as bad as it has played and the results are showing. Do you think Pakistan has underperformed?

[Shadab Khan:]

Yes completely. I think we have underperformed, in all three matches. We haven’t underperformed this way before. We know that we are not playing good cricket. But our team has bounced back from this situation before and hopefully, we will come out of this situation.

[Reporter:]

So how confident are you about Pakistan's win – because Pakistan still has a chance to go into the semi’s if they win all four matches – because the next match is against South Africa and other tough matches. Because we have fallen down many times before this and come out successfully.

[Shadab Khan:]

See, like I said earlier, we know how to come out of such situations. And there are miracles in our belief. We have full faith in our team. Our team was playing well before the World Cup. We didn't play well in the World Cup. It's not always the case that we, as a team, did not play well. There are bad days, but I think we will start our winning streak from tomorrow. And, we hope to start our winning streak from tomorrow.

[Reporter:]

The way you and Iftikhar batted against Afghanistan in the last 10-15 overs, that helped Pakistan to get to the total that you got that day. How important is it for the middle order power hitters to fire consistently for teams to do well given the way the trend we are seeing in this tournament?

[Shadab Khan:]

Yeah, it is very important, especially nowadays how cricket is playing now, modern day cricket. 330 - 350 is like just a par score. So, everyone has to play like that and have everyone, like, especially for us, where we bat, me and Iftikhar, we have to finish like that. Then we got the par score, we wanted that. And hopefully we continue to perform like that. So, it will help our team as well.

[Reporter:]

There are a lot of questions about your performance. How much are you motivating yourself in all these criticisms? And now the next match is do-or-die for Pakistan if you want to go ahead. So, being a spinner, being a senior player, how will you prepare for this game and what kind of performance should we expect from you?

[Shadab Khan:]

The criticism is valid because I haven't been performing well recently. So, it's valid. I'm not performing well in such a big tournament, but it's not like I'm always the same. There is always ups and downs in cricket.  I think all our bowlers are bowling in good rhythm. They have done good bowling in patches. I am not doing well, but the rest of the bowlers are bowling really well in patches. I told you before the World Cup started that the team with the best bowling form will be seen at the top. So, it is being seen that way because in pitches where there are more runs, you win the bowling tournament. So, we have to work in all three fields [all three departments, batting, bowling and fielding]. But I feel that the way our bowling lineup is, it has underperformed a lot in World Cup. So, as a bowling unit, we will have to get up and win for our team.

[Reporter:]

You have had a lot of batting talent but in the last 2-3 years you have become a genuine all-rounder. Your batting contribution is very important for Pakistan. Was there any difficulty in balancing the workload at that time? You have to pay attention to bowling and batting. How are you finding it to adjust to the demand?

[Shadab Khan:]

I think the workload of an all-rounder is double compared to others. 

This is not an excuse to lose three matches in Pakistan. But players getting sick in Ahmedabad, getting sick in Bangalore, Fakhar has not recovered completely, Osama was sick there, Nawaz was sick here. How big a factor has this been in Pakistan team’s journey of losses?

[Shadab Khan:]

When we lose, we feel that every small thing is a big deal, but I don't think it's a big deal. I think it can happen to anyone, getting sick. We have played matches since childhood where we have high fever. I don't think it's an excuse. We didn't play well as a team, which we have to accept. We have to bounce back. From tomorrow, our do-or-die matches start. We have to play on our strength and try to do extra.

#CWC2023 #shadabkhan #babarazam

cricket, world cup 2023, rohit sharma, virat kohli, India, Cricket Live, Press conference, match highlights, pat cummins, david warner, steve smith, jasprit bumrah, hardik pandya, KL Rahul, cricket live, cric mate, joe root, ben stokes, vimal kumar, aakash chopra, cricbuzz, espn, Rahul Dravid, Devon Conway