Khushdil Shah

Khushdil Shah has been a run machine in limited-overs cricket as far as Pakistan's domestic circuit is concerned. A flamboyant left-handed batsman who bats predominantly in the middle order, Shah has also shown his wares in the PSL for Peshawar Zalmi. Unlike most southpaws who rely a lot on grace and timing, Shah's game revolves on power and he is extremely strong on the leg-side unlike his peers. He isn't exactly flawless against pace but loves to destroy the spinners by going in the arc between long-on and square leg. Shah also uses his feet quite well to the tweakers. Since his List A debut in 2016, he has been racking up runs with remarkable consistency and at a brisk pace. Even his T20 exploits have been good and it didn't come as a surprise when he got picked in the Pakistan T20I squad for the tour of Australia in late 2019.

Shah moved to Multan Sultans in the year 2020 for the PSL. And made his ODI debut in the same year. He played only one ODI in 2020 and then came back in 2022 where he played 9 ODIs batting in the middle and lower middle-order. He barely got too many chances but managed to keep his strike-rate more than 100. He was sidelined post that but was welcomed back into the side for the 2025 Champions Trophy. His exploits in PSL 2023 and 2024 were below par. But he would want to grab this chance as he has the potential down the order to alter the flow of the games.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan