New Delhi: Pakistan’s star batsman Khushdir ShahCurrently playing for Karachi Kings pakistan super league (PSL) has challenged the team management and the Pakistan Cricket Board over his exclusion from the national team. Khushdil played a brilliant performance of 44 runs off just 14 balls to help Karachi Kings beat Lahore Qalandars by 5 wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Thursday.Khushdir, who was named man of the match for his winning goal, was interviewed by former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raja after the match and publicly stated that he was not considering making the national team.
An emotional Khushdil, who last played for Pakistan in a T20I against the UAE in September 2025, said: “Sab players are mainly Araghun. I’m not on social media and I don’t talk to older people about my problems. [I’m different from everyone else. I’m not on social media, nor do I hold grudges that I was treated unfairly]”.“Now, I have scored 700-800 runs in both No. 5 and No. 6, have scored double centuries and opened a lot. But, despite this, I have been dropped. [I scored 700, 800 runs at number 5 or 6 in domestic cricket, yet I was dropped from the team],” he said.Khushdil has played 15 ODIs and 38 T20Is for Pakistan so far.Putting in the batting, Lahore Qalandars posted a challenging 199/6 in 20 overs thanks to a half-century Farha Zaman and Abdullah Shafiq.In the chase of 200 runs, Khushdil hit five sixes in an unbeaten 44 off 14 balls at a strike rate of 314.28, while David Warner scored 63 runs in 44 balls to lead Karachi Kings to a crucial victory.Karachi Kings currently sit sixth on the points table with four wins and five losses from nine games. They have eight runs and a net run rate of -1.063.
