Mitchell McClenaghan defends PSL teammate Sharjeel Khan on Twitter

New Zealand pacer Mitchell McClenaghan has come out in support of his Pakistan Super League teammate Sharjeel Khan, who was criticised by Waqar Younis for the southpaw's lack of fitness.

In a recent interview, Younis, now the Pakistan team's bowling coach was questioned about Sharjeel's possible inclusion in the team, to which the former pacer claimed that the southpaw needed to work on his fitness before he's included in the national side.

With Twitter users engaged in a debate on Younis' opinion, McClenaghan, who played alongside Sharjeel for the Karachi Kings in PSL 2020 shared his thoughts on the opener's efforts to get fitter.

Give the bloke a break. Witnessed him work very hard off the park everyday during PSL. Had minimal rest because he actively wanted to get fitter - often I wondered if he wasn’t trying so hard to lose weight to play for Pakistan would have he performed more consistently with rest? https://t.co/4w9XtIqM19

— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) March 21, 2020

McClenaghan shed light on how Sharjeel put in the extra yards in training sessions apart from those on the ground during PSL 2020.

Give the bloke a break. Witnessed him work very hard off the park everyday during PSL. Had minimal rest because he actively wanted to get fitter - often I wondered if he wasn't trying so hard to lose weight to play for Pakistan would have he performed more consistently with rest?

Notably, Sharjeel returned to playing cricket after serving a part of his ban for involvement in spot-fixing in the 2017 edition of the Pakistan Super League. In PSL 2020, Sharjeel Khan opened the batting for the Kings with skipper Babar Azam and scored 199 runs from 10 matches at a strike rate of 144.20.