Andrew Puttick: “He’s experienced at the domestic level and has had a good start to his international career. I see him getting better and better as he settles in this ODI side”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Andrew Puttick, who has been Pakistan’s batting coach, is confident that middle order batsman Saud Shakeel will become “better and better” as he gets more settled in the ODI team.
Shakeel had initially been utilised in Test cricket, where he has scored 875 runs in seven matches, which includes two centuries and six fifties, at an average of 87.50.
However, with Pakistan having had middle order issues in ODIs, they decided to give the 28-year-old from Karachi a chance to earn his spot during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Shakeel did relatively well as he made 241 runs in nine games, which included two half-centuries, at an average of 34.42.
“He’s experienced at the domestic level and has had a good start to his international career. I see him getting better and better as he settles in this ODI side,” Puttick told Geo News.
Pakistan began the World Cup with back-to-back wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before faltering against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Despite bouncing back to take down Bangladesh and New Zealand, they were unable to progress to the semi-finals.
The men in green’s campaign ended on a low as England crushed them by 93 runs.
Shakeel will now represent Pakistan in their upcoming three-match Test series against Australia, which starts 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
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