Khushdil Shah, who came up as a promising power hitter following his outstanding batting performances in PSL 7 and domestic tournaments, seems to be clueless on the international stage. The 27-year-old finisher has been on the receiving end of massive criticism due to his inability to accelerate in the death overs. We take a look at his T20 journey from being the best finisher on the domestic circuit to liability on the international stage.
Khushdil Shah generally comes in to bat down the order where he is expected to smash back-to-back boundaries to push the scorecard up or chase down the target at a considerably high run rate. However, his recent performances have shown that he lacks power-hitting abilities.
The 27-year-old has been a lost ball in the high weeds in 23 T20I matches he played, scoring only 282 runs at an average of 20.1. While the average of a power hitter might not be an issue in the short format of the game, his strike rate is what really matters.
Khushdil Shah’s overall strike rate is a miserly 111, which is quite low to suit the fiery nature of the game, especially for a finisher. As they say, power hitters cannot really afford to breathe on the crease.
While Khushdil Shah has certainly been the best power hitter in the last season of the Pakistan Super League where he scored at a strike rate of 182.14, his international performances have not been up to the mark. He has only twice scored at a strike rate of more than 200 with 36 runs at 240 against Zimbabwe and 35 runs at 233 against Hong Kong. The fact that he has only hit big sixes against Zimbabwe and Hong Kong is a worrying sign for Pakistan heading into the T20 World Cup.
Here is a look at the T20I innings Khushdil Shah played since his debut in 2019:
| Opposition | Runs | Balls | Sixes | Strike Rate |
| Australia | 8 | 11 | 0 | 72.72 |
| Zimbabwe | 5* | 4 | 0 | 125.00 |
| Zimbabwe | 11* | 9 | 0 | 122.22 |
| Zimbabwe | 36* | 15 | 3 | 240.00 |
| New Zealand | 16 | 20 | 0 | 80.00 |
| New Zealand | 14 | 20 | 0 | 70.00 |
| New Zealand | 13 | 10 | 0 | 130.00 |
| South Africa | 12 | 12 | 1 | 100.00 |
| South Africa | 15 | 18 | 0 | 83.33 |
| Bangladesh | 34 | 35 | 1 | 97.14 |
| Bangladesh | 0* | 0 | 0 | – |
| Australia | 24 | 21 | 0 | 114.28 |
| India | 2 | 7 | 0 | 28.57 |
| Hong Kong | 35* | 15 | 5 | 233.33 |
| India | 14* | 11 | 0 | 127.27 |
| Afghanistan | 1 | 3 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Sri Lanka | 4 | 8 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Sri Lanka | 2 | 4 | 0 | 50.00 |
| England | 5* | 7 | 0 | 71.42 |
| England | 29 | 21 | 2 | 138.09 |
| England | 2 | 3 | 0 | 66.66 |
If we look at power hitters the other teams possess, Khushdil Shah is nowhere near their standard. From Liam Livingstone to Tim David, Hardik Pandya to David Miller, Nicholas Pooran to James Neesham, all have proved themselves at the big stage and Pakistan will, unfortunately, have to look at other options if they are to score big to chase big totals in Australia.
Fully agree, he is not ready for International stage
Yes he do not deserve to play international matches. Why psl produced such quality batsmen?
He is neither a proper batter nor has any game awareness.
Yes they guy not play well Yacht Rental Dubai
No more chance shall be given to him please
Yes his performance is not up to the mark Asif Ali is a good hitter and Khushdil has no place in team should be out of team
Let’s give chance to a more deserving cricketer before it’s too late. We bet heavily and way too long on players like khushdil, who just doesn’t have the confidence to perform on world stage, let’s groom ahmed shahzad, shahid afridi end umar akmal. Mr. Khushdil belongs to the league of flukes unlike the players like Abful Razzaq and Moin Khan
Sharjeel Khan best hitter for Pakistan
He is not a good player,one of the good player is only ahmad shahzad
Ghatiya player hai ye khusra
Asif Ali best for team Pakistan always
Imad Wasim was way better than Khushdil, Not sure why he is suddenly out of the squad for a long time.
I cont understand why Pakistan not play Malik and sharjeel,Ramiz Raja aur Mohamed Waseem dono ko farigh kare ge phir Saqlain Mushtaq ko is k baad khushdil aur iftakhar safarshi khelari,
ya hai g hamri team ka power hitter…..I think this is the best power hitter in the world…..🤣🤣
ager is trha ki selection krni hai tu lannat hai is pr pta ni kya kr rhy hai i can’t understand this…..
How come he has been given chance again without realising the fact that he has failed to prove his mettle?
Right
He should be replaced with Imad Wasim as soon as possible. We can’t bear Khushdil anymore.
Not good at all!
Khushdil don’t have ability to hit great shorts. Please out from the team and add malik or imad wasim
I’m fully agree I don’t like he play icc t20 wc