Shadab Khan praised his team’s focus on staying calm and not worrying about results after leading the Panthers to a big win against the Markhors in the Champions One-Day Cup final.
“Our coaches and mentors wanted us to build a strong team,” he said during the press conference after the match. “The goal was to give young players a chance to grow so they can represent Pakistan in the future.”
As the team captain, Shadab played a key role in the Panthers’ success. This is his second trophy in 2024, just six months after helping Islamabad United win the PSL title. However, it hasn’t been an easy year for Shadab, especially with his own batting performance. But the last three weeks have brought him some joy. At the Champions Cup in Faisalabad, he contributed either with the bat or ball in all matches except the first one.
Importantly, Shadab regained better control over his bowling. He managed to hit the right areas consistently—something he had struggled with recently. He credited his success to finding his rhythm and said he wants to keep improving. Shadab also mentioned that he plans to “play as many red-ball matches as possible” this season.
“I still need to improve more,” he admitted. “But things are getting better because I hadn’t bowled long spells in a while. Bowling longer spells in this tournament helped me gain confidence. But there’s still a long way to go before I reach my best level again.”
Shadab also shared his overall approach to cricket—both for himself and the team he leads. “We wanted to focus on the process, not the results. As a country, we’re very emotional. When we win, we go really high, but when we lose, we hit rock bottom. Our emotions swing up and down. So, what we can control is our process, which should be stable, not up and down. We tried to keep things simple and not worry about results. Even today, we talked about it—we didn’t think about the result. It’s not in our hands anyway.”
The final result turned out great for Shadab Khan’s team. After a solid start from the Markhors, Shadab and his bowlers caused a stunning collapse, with the last eight Markhors wickets falling for just 40 runs. Shadab picked up one of those wickets in his three overs. With the bat, he scored a quick 14 runs off nine balls, staying unbeaten and helping his team reach the target with a massive 32 overs left.
Shadab didn’t blame the pitch for Markhors’ poor performance, instead praising his own team for bowling well. “I don’t set a particular number to restrict the other team,” he explained. “I think we bowled really well to get them out for a low score. We wanted to put as much pressure on them as we could because that’s when teams make mistakes, and you can take quick wickets. In high-pressure matches, it’s hard to build partnerships.”
Shadab also praised his two key fast bowlers, including 16-year-old Ali Raza.
“Ali Raza’s mindset is way beyond his age,” Shadab said. “The way he’s bowling, I think he could be a good player for the Pakistan team in the future. We need to be careful with him, though, because he’s still young, and his body is not fully developed. He could get injured more easily.”
The other bowler Shadab highlighted was Mohammad Hasnain, who took 17 wickets at an average of 16.17, earning him the Player-of-the-Series award. Shadab said Hasnain had an amazing tournament after returning from a long ankle injury, thanks to “his own hard work.”
Shadab understands the importance of supporting young bowlers better than most. He got his big break at the age of 17 in 2017 and soon played a crucial role in Pakistan’s Champions Trophy win that year. Later, in the PSL, Islamabad United trusted him enough to make him vice-captain at 20 and captain at 21.
Although Shadab’s bowling form has been inconsistent throughout his career, his captaincy and tactical skills have always stood out. It’s no surprise that he doesn’t see youth as an obstacle to success.
“We’re inexperienced,” Shadab said simply about his team, which had the youngest average age in the Champions Cup. “But we won the tournament.”
