Rashid Latif: “Abdullah Shafique is an outstanding batter and has every ability to be included among the best batters of the world in [the] near future”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif has predicted that opener Abdullah Shafique will become one of the best batsmen in the world really soon.
His comments come after Shafique stole the spotlight during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup as he started off as a back-up option before going on to become one of Pakistan’s top run-scorers in the tournament.
The 24-year-old from Sialkot amassed 336 runs in eight games, which included a century and three fifties, at an average of 42.
“Abdullah Shafique is an outstanding batter and has every ability to be included among the best batters of the world in [the] near future,” Latif was quoted as saying by Geo Super.
Pakistan started off with consecutive wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before succumbing to defeats at the hands of India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Despite fighting back to beat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they were unable to progress to the semi-finals.
The men in green concluded their campaign in dismal fashion as England demolished them by 93 runs.
Shafique will now feature in Pakistan’s upcoming three-match Test series against Australia, which gets underway on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi