'Definitely feel it's a lot...': Shadab Khan pin-points colossal Asia Cup 'travel' challenge ahead of Team India clash

The Pakistan all-rounder highlighted a major challenge for the side ahead of its Asia Cup encounter against India.

Pakistan concluded a dominant 3-0 clean sweep against Afghanistan in their one-day international series, securing their series victory with an impressive 59-run triumph in the final contest at R. Premadasa Stadium on Saturday. The dominant performance propelled Pakistan to reclaim the prestigious No. 1 world ranking, displacing Australia from their prior position. In pursuit of a 269-run target, Afghanistan encountered a challenging journey throughout the match.

Pakistan's Shadab Khan (R) looks towards Afghanistan's Shahidullah Kamal (L) after dismissing him during the third ODI(AFP)

Pakistan's fast bowlers adeptly harnessed the unpredictable nature of the pitch, utilizing pace and bounce to unsettle their opponents' batting lineup. The spinners further compounded Afghanistan's difficulties by consistently breaking through their defenses and impeding any prospects of a successful pursuit. With 3-0 win and no.1 ranking in the bag, the Pakistan team remains in high spirits but the side's leading all-rounder Shadab Khan has stressed on a major concern about the upcoming Asia Cup.

The continental tournament is co-hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and with India playing all of their matches in the island nation, Babar Azam's men will have a significant travelling headache. Pakistan host Nepal for their first match of Group A on August 30, before taking on India in Kandy two days later. Following the side's win on Saturday, Shadab was asked if the excessive travelling will have an impact on the side's performance when it takes the field in Kandy.

“See, it can make or not make an impact. We haven't traveled yet. We definitely feel it's a lot of travel. But we will try to keep ourselves hydrated, it's very difficult in this weather -- especially for our fast bowlers,” explained the Pakistan star.

“It's too much travel. See, our series has just ended, and we will be travelling tomorrow again. It's difficult, let's see how we cope with it as players. There will be fatigue, sure. Nowadays, ODIs look quite long because we've been playing T20s a lot. You have to keep the same intensity for 50 overs. Hopefully, there are no injuries because the schedule is quite hectic,” said Shadab further.

Pakistan will be aiming for a strong outing in the continental tournament; they were runners-up in the previous edition, losing to Sri Lanka in the title clash. The 2022 tournament was played in T20 format where Pakistan had defeated arch-rivals India in the Super Fours stage as well.