Amid Pakistan’s new ‘Bazball’-inspired strategy, Saud Shakeel shows classical Test-match excellence

During Pakistan’s four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Galle, Saud Shakeel grew to become the primary Pakistan batsman to attain a double ton on Sri Lankan soil. In a match wherein Pakistan’s batting order made a aware change to their strategy, taking a leaf out of England’s ‘Bazball’ e-book and attacking with extra intent, Shakeel displayed that he’s able to taking part in the state of affairs and doing each – taking part in his pictures and accelerating when wanted, and placing a prize on his wicket whereas batting with the tail.

Shakeel’s first century got here in 129 balls for the following hundred, he took 233 deliveries. He has his causes as a result of he was batting with the tail. After that exhilarating 177-run stand with Agha Salman, the diminutive southpaw added 52 runs for the seventh wicket with Noman Ali, and 94 runs for ninth wicket with Naseem Shah.

Following his double ton, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif dubbed him as the most effective batsman within the staff after Babar Azam, and asserted the significance of first-class cricket within the improvement of top-quality batsmen, clamping down on the notion that franchise cricket is the one avenue to develop expertise.

“He (Shakeel) should have been brought in the national team a few years early. Saud has played 59 first-class matches before he played his first Test,” Latif advised The Indian Express from Karachi.

“We always say that we develop cricketers from the Pakistan Super League (PSL), but Saud’s innings is an answer to all those cricket experts that ‘Boss, no, first-class cricket is important. PSL is doing it but you can’t deny the (importance) of first-class cricket.’”

Latif feels it’s too early to foretell the heights Shakeel would attain in his cricket however he hailed the teen’s steadiness whereas taking part in the tempo and spin.

“Those who are of shorter height like Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Javed Miandad, their balance is always good because their centre of gravity is closer to the earth. They are good on front foot and back foot, they play both spin and pace nicely. Saud is good against both of them,” he defined.

The southpaw was additionally lauded by former Pakistan captain Inzmam-ul-Haq, who mentioned on his YouTube channel: “Scoring in Sri Lanka is not easy. I liked his temperament. The value of this knock is so high, because we were five down. He never gave up. He played a match-winning knock. He never threw away his wicket, but he maintained his strike rate.”

Shakeel is having fun with a superb begin to his Test profession. The 27-year-old has scored 818 runs in 12 innings with a median of 90.88. His childhood coach, Muhammad Masroor, says he’s now flourishing because the worry of failure is gone.

“The fear of being dropped from the team is not there. Against England, he just wanted to score runs and occupy crease; now he has got that confidence that he can take on the attack. It was good to see,” he advised The Indian Express.