Shadab Khan's form returns in the PSL, but this time with the bat.

LAHORE -- If ever there was a scene dreamt up by a T20 nerd, this was it. In their third game of this season, Islamabad United were set 183 to win against Lahore Qalandars, and they had just lost their best hopes of victory in the space of eight balls. Luke Ronchi and Colin Munro were out, and Islamabad's hopes of a positive result were fast fading. So what did they do? They sent in a man with a PSL average a shade over nine and a strike rate around 109. It felt like a quintessential "this ain't it, chief" moment. The man in question was 21-year-old Shadab Khan. He is captain of the franchise this season, just three years on from when he made his name as a slight, skinny teenager with a big smile and a bigger legbreak.

He might never have been renowned as a batsman, particularly in this format, but Islamabad have always made it clear they would like to see more from him with the bat. His cricketing hero, famously, is Steven Smith, and...

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