“Pakistan team mai meri jaga na le jaye” - Shadab Khan has a cute interaction with Sarfaraz Ahmed over latter’s son

Pakistan leg-spinner and vice-captain Shadab Khan had a cute interaction with former national Sarfaraz Ahmed over the latter’s son Abdullah. During the endearing “discussion”, Shadab even wondered (in a light-hearted manner) whether Abdullah would end up replacing him in the Pakistan team.

Shadab, 24, was one of Pakistan’s star performers during the team’s T20 World Cup 2022 campaign, where they finished as runners-up. The leg-spinner claimed 11 wickets in seven matches at an average of 15. He also scored a scintillating 52 off 22 balls in the must-win Super 12 clash against South Africa.

On Thursday, November 17, a Pakistan journalist shared a video of Sarfaraz’s son, Abdullah, bowling some leg-spin to his father, who had his gloves on, during an innings break in a Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match in Karachi.

Sarfaraz shared the clip and tagged Shadab by writing:

“Check karo.”

Shadab replied:

“Abdullah ne pehle saifi bhai ke dil mai meri jaga le li ab Pakistan team mai meri jaga na le jaye @SarfarazA_54 (First Abdullah replaced me in Sarfaraz’s heart. Now, I hope he doesn’t replace me in the Pakistan team).”

Responding to the all-rounder, Sarfaraz commented:

“Hahaha aisa nahe hone wala. Aap aur abdullah dono dil me sath aye the aur hamesha rahen Ge ❤️ (That won’t happen. Both you and Abdullah will always stay in my heart together).”

Sarfaraz’s international career nosedived after the rise of Mohammad Rizwan as Pakistan’s first-choice keeper-batter. The 35-year-old last represented the country in November 2021 during a T20I against Bangladesh in Mirpur.

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Shahid Afridi recently named Shadab Khan as one of the contenders for Pakistan's T20I captaincy

Although Pakistan reached the final of the T20 World Cup 2022, their skipper Babar Azam struggled with the bat, managing only a solitary half-century during the entire tournament. In the wake of his non-performance with the willow, pressure has been growing on Babar to quit as T20I captain.

Former all-rounder Shahid Afridi also reckons that the time has come for Babar to focus on other formats of the game. Speaking to SAMAA TV recently, he opined:

“Babar was not happy with the management at Karachi Kings as it is. I feel he should take a tough call and quit captaincy in T20 cricket. He should focus on his batting and lead the team in Tests and one-dayers.

“I respect Babar a lot and that’s why I don’t want him to take the pressure of captaincy in T20 cricket. I want him to focus on his captaincy in longer formats. You do have players like Shadab, Rizwan and even Shan Masood who can lead the team in the T20 format.”

Babar ended the T20 World Cup in Australia with 124 runs in seven innings at an average of 17.71 and a strike rate of 93.23.