"Criticism is valid, I haven't been performing well": Pakistan's Shadab Khan on his World Cup form

Chennai : Pakistan vice-captain Shadab Khan has stated that his performance during the ongoing World Cup has been below par.

During a pre-match press conference on Thursday ahead of Pakistan's match against South Africa, Shadab stated that the Pakistan team will strive to make a comeback in the tournament after three consecutive losses.

Shadab has only taken two wickets in four games in the marquee event and has been facing criticism from the fans and many former players. He has 74 runs scored in three innings with the bat.

"The criticism is valid because I haven't been performing well recently. I'm not performing well in such a big tournament, but it's not like I'm always the same. There are always ups and downs in cricket," Shadab said in a pre-match press conference.

He also admitted that Pakistan's bowlers have not come up to expectations.

"I think all our bowlers are bowling in good rhythm. They have done good bowling in patches. I am not doing well, but the rest of the bowlers are bowling really well in patches. I told you before the World Cup started that the team with the best bowling form would be seen at the top. So, it is being seen that way because in pitches where there are more runs, you win (through) the bowling.... We have to work in all three fields [all three departments, batting, bowling and fielding]. But I feel that the way our bowling lineup is, it has underperformed a lot in the World Cup. As a bowling unit, we will have to get up and win for our team," he said.

Pakistan, who were among the favourites before the start of the tournament, have suffered three consecutive defeats and the loss to India and Afghanistan has particularly rankled the fans. Pakistan now have a steep task ahead to make it to the semifinals.

Shadab said the team underperformed in all three matches. We haven't underperformed this way before. We know that we are not playing good cricket. But our team has bounced back from this situation before and hopefully, we will come out of this situation," the all-rounder said.

"Like I said earlier, we know how to come out of such situations. And there are miracles in our belief. We have full faith in our team. Our team was playing well before the World Cup. We didn't play well in the World Cup. It's not always the case that we, as a team, did not play well. There are bad days, but I think we will start our winning streak from tomorrow," he added.

The 1992 winners will look to end their three-match losing streak when they face a resurgent South Africa next, or else will have to rely on other results to keep their semi-final chances alive.