"I was struggling": Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan opens up about his lean patch

New Delhi [India], July 16 (ANI): Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan opened up about his recent struggle to find the purple patch with the bat and ball on the international circuit. Shadab is enjoying a memorable debut in Lanka Premier League Season 5 with the Colombo Strikers. In his very first game, he snared a hat-trick against the Kandy Falcons and has since thrived in the conditions, picking up 16 wickets, the most by any bowler so far in this LPL season. As the LPL caravan moved from Dambulla to Colombo, Shadab picked up his third four-wicket haul of the tournament against the Jaffna Kings at the R Premadasa Stadium on Sunday. As Shadab continues to rewrite record books, he opened up about his struggle to deliver for the Pakistan team.

"I was struggling for three months. I hadn't taken a wicket in the last seven international games. I came here, started bowling and am now always taking wickets. That is the beauty of cricket. You have to enjoy these types of scenarios as well... sometimes you perform, sometimes you don't. But the process that you follow has to be consistent," Shadab said, as quoted from a press release by LPL.

Shadab recalled his first outing in the league and expressed that the pitch was helpful for spinners. But he went on to add that a T20 bowler requires variations to be successful across conditions.

"The pitch was helping us as it was a bit slow and gripping a bit... But T20 cricket is very hard nowadays, as 200 is easily changeable. As a spinner, you have to have your variations because on flat tracks, if you don't have variations, you can go for runs. But if you have variation, you can take wickets as well as contain runs. So that is very important, and it is also important that you land it in a good area," Shadab added.

The 25-year-old stated his intention to contribute as an all-rounder across all departments of the game for his franchise, the Colombo Strikers.

"I am performing for my team, and that is a good sign. I am the main bowler, and if I am taking wickets, that is a positive sign for me and my team. I want to contribute in all three phases. So far, I am contributing in two as a bowler and fielder. Hopefully, I can contribute with the bat too," Shadab concluded. (ANI)