Mohammad Yousuf: “In my opinion, it is even more inappropriate to disturb him during the strive since it is hard for a batter to get over his struggling patch after four-five bad innings yet it is not impossible”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan batting coach Mohammad Yousuf feels it is inappropriate to disturb opening batsman Abdullah Shafique while he is going through a rough patch.
Shafique is one of Pakistan’s most promising talents and has done extremely well in his Test career so far.
However, the 23-year-old wasn’t at his best during the recent Test series against England and New Zealand.
In the three Tests Pakistan played against England, he scored 213 runs, which included a century, at an average of 35.50.
He followed that up with 43 runs in two Tests against New Zealand at an average of 10.75.
Despite not performing at his highest level, Yousuf is confident that Shafique will bounce back.
“In my opinion, it is even more inappropriate to disturb him during the strive since it is hard for a batter to get over his struggling patch after four-five bad innings yet it is not impossible,” he was quoted as saying by A Sports.
Shafique has been playing for the Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he has accumulated 191 runs in six matches, which includes a top score of 75, at an average of 31.83 and a strike-rate of 149.21.
The Qalandars’ next match will be against the Karachi Kings on Sunday.
Lahore Qalandars Squad for PSL 8: Rashid Khan, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, David Wiese, Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam, Zaman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Hussain Talat, Sikandar Raza, Liam Dawson, Dilbar Hussain, Mirza Tahir Baig, Ahmed Danlyal, Shawaiz Irfan, Jalat Khan, Ahsan Bhatti, Sam Billings (partial replacement for Rashid Khan), Shane Dadswell (replacement for Harry Brook), Shai Hope (replacement for Kusal Mendis)