Fakhar Zaman: “He has actually not yet shown the way he can actually play”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan big-hitter Fakhar Zaman said fellow opening batsman Abdullah Shafique has “not yet shown the way he can actually play.”
His comments come after Shafique dominated in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup as he scored 336 runs in eight matches, which included a century and three fifties, at an average of 42.
Identified as a new, potential all-format star for Pakistan, Shafique has shown that he can perform at the highest level and on the biggest stage.
However, Zaman warned that the 24-year-old from Sialkot has yet to truly show how good he can be.
“He has actually not yet shown the way he can actually play,” he was quoted as saying by respected journalist Saj Sadiq on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Pakistan kickstarted the World Cup with wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before faltering against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they fought back to take down Bangladesh and New Zealand, they could not make it through to the semi-finals.
The men in green ended their campaign on a sour note as England hammered them by 93 runs.
Shafique will now feature in Pakistan’s 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
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