World Cup 2023: 'Singham bhi aaye hain yaha pe' - Shadab Khan in Pakistan's first media conference in India

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Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan made a Bollywood reference and won hearts during the first media conference organised by the team after arriving in India for the World Cup 2023.

The Babar Azam-led side arrived in Hyderabad on Wednesday and turned up for their first warm-up match against New Zealand at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Friday. The side will now face Australia in their second and last warm-up match on October 3, Tuesday.

"Singham bhi aaye hain yaha pe. (I see Singham is also present here),” Shadab Khan said, glancing at the officer from Hyderabad police manning the media conference room.

Notably, the reference was made in context to the famous Bollywood movie in which Ajay Devgn plays the role of supercop Bajirao Singham. The leg-spinner had high praise for the love and affection his team has received after arriving in India.

On a lighter note, he said that the Pakistan support staff were worried about the body fat percentage of the players who have been enjoying delicious Hyderabadi cuisines.

“The welcome was fantastic at the (Hyderabad) airport and also a lot of people have been thronging the team hotel and hospitality wise it’s been really good,” Shadab told mediapersons during the first official media conference organised by the team.

The food has been really tasty and the support staff (all South Africans) are worried that we end up increasing our fat percentage (laughs). Hope, we get the same love in Ahmedabad where we play India (laughs),” said Shadab referring to his team’s much-awaited clash against the arch-rivals on October 14.

I admire Rohit Sharma, most difficult batter to bowl: Shadab Khan

Shadab Khan also opened up on his admiration for India captain Rohit Sharma. He said that he finds it most difficult to bowl against the star batter.

“I admire Rohit Sharma a lot and among the leading batsmen in the world he is the most difficult to bowl to. Once he gets set he becomes very dangerous. Among the bowlers, since I am a leg-spinner, it will be Kuldeep Yadav given his recent form,” said Shadab.

Shadab Khan defends under-fire Fakhar Zaman

Further, Shadab Khan defended out-of-form Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman. He has also opined that the team bowling well and managing to contain the batters will win the World Cup 2023.

“Babar, Rizwan, Iman are our consistent players and this is my feeling that the team that bowls well will win the World Cup. It will be difficult to contain the batsmen and pick wickets given the nature of flat tracks and short boundaries. We have world class bowlers and as a bowling unit if we perform well we will become champions,” the 24-year-old said.