The teenage spin sensation from Pakistan, Shadab Khan, who impressed one and all with his stellar showing in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, has revealed that the delivery to get rid of India’s experienced middle order batsman Yuvraj Singh in the all-important final was a well thought out one.
Pakistan thrashed their arch-rivals opponent (India) in the final by 180 runs and also took the cricketing fraternity by surprise with their remarkable show throughout the tournament. The Green Shirt didn’t start their Champions Trophy on a positive note as they got mauled by India in the pool game with a massive margin of 124 runs. However, they up their game after the demoralizing loss in the first match and cruised to the final without any hiccup.
Ahead of the ‘Independence Cup’ against the World XI, Shadab gave an interview to PakPassion where he talked about Pakistan’s memorable Champions Trophy campaign in England and how things have changed after the first Group B match at Edgbaston.
“I believe it all started with the first India-Pakistan game in the tournament in which I could see that he was unable to pick my wrong’un and then he was also dropped off my bowling. So, in the back of mind, I knew that he had a weakness which I could use to our advantage,” Shadab quoted.
“What I figured was that Yuvraj would be looking for the wrong’un every ball I was bowling and he would be playing each ball that way. The best way to trouble him then was to bowl a regular leg-spin delivery which I did and hit him on the pad. This wicket was perfect planning and a moment I will never forget for the rest of my life,” he further added.
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The 18-year-old also explained how he insisted skipper Sarfraz to take the review.
“I was so convinced that Yuvraj Singh was out that I was repeating on and on to our captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, that it was pad first and that Yuvraj was out. He asked me again if the ball hit the pad first and I said yes it did and we took the review.
“I knew that the captain and team management had huge faith in me and they showed that by listening to my call for reviewing the decision. I was, of course, overjoyed when the review was taken and the decision was given in our favour,” Shadab, who took 2 wickets in the final concluded.
