Pakistan’s young leg-spinner Shadab Khan recently revealed his planning involved in Yuvraj Singh’s dismissal in the finals of the Champions Trophy 2017. He claimed that in earlier matches, he took notes of Yuvraj’s mistakes and it to his advantage.
In the league stage of CT 2017, India defeated Pakistan pretty comprehensively at Edgbaston and very few were expecting that tables will be turned in the finals of the tournament. However, the men in green managed to reach the finals and defeated their arch rivals after a long time in an ICC event.
Recently, in an interview with PakPassion, Shadab Khan shared how he planned Yuvraj’s dismissal, he said, “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.”
Terming Yuvi’s wicket as unforgettable, Shadab said, “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, “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.”
Shadab concluded by talking about how team management trusted him, he said, “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.”