Umar Gul: “Much needed innings from Saud Shakeel, full of dedication, self belief and patience. Magnificent double century from this young boy, many more to come inshaAllah”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Umar Gul, the former seamer, is confident that Pakistan middle order batsman Saud Shakeel will score “many more” double centuries in the future.
This comes after Shakeel struck a career-best 208 not out during the two-Test series against Sri Lanka in July 2023.
Overall, he finished with 295 runs at an average of 147.50.
Gul praised the 28-year-old from Karachi for the quality of his innings and admitted that it was “much needed.”
“Much needed innings from Saud Shakeel, full of dedication, self belief and patience. Magnificent double century from this young boy, many more to come inshaAllah,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Following the Test series against Sri Lanka, Shakeel played one ODI against Afghanistan and scored nine runs.
He was subsequently picked for the Asia Cup, but didn’t feature in any of Pakistan’s matches.
He is now part of Pakistan’s team for the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup and has scored 160 runs in five matches, which includes a career-best knock of 68, at an average of 32.
Pakistan kicked off their campaign with successive wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka.
However, things fell apart from there as they are now on a three-game losing streak after having been defeated by India, Australia and Afghanistan.
The men in green will be back in action on October 27 when they take on South Africa in Chennai.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali
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