Rashid Latif: “First-class and Test cricket [are] most important for developing young cricketers like Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub and Haider Ali”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif believes batsmen Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub and Haider Ali should be playing Test and first-class cricket regularly as it will help with their development.
Shafique is already part of the Test team and has made a great start to his career in the longest format, amassing 1,330 runs in 17 matches, which includes four centuries and five fifties, at an average of 44.33.
As for Ayub, he made his Test debut during Pakistan’s three-match Test series against Australia, featuring in the third Test in Sydney in January 2024.
As for Haider, he has yet to make his Test debut and hasn’t represented his country since featuring at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in 2023.
With all three having shown plenty of potential, Latif feels that Pakistan should invest in them as they can pay huge dividends later on.
“First-class and Test cricket [are] most important for developing young cricketers like Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub and Haider Ali,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Pakistan team recently featured in the 2024 T20 World Cup and lost to the United States of America and India before fighting back to take down Canada and Ireland.
Despite ending the group stage on a high, the men in green failed to advance to the Super Eights.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
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