Shan Masood: “For him to take that pressure of not scoring runs in the last few Test matches and come up with a performance like this. He also lost his opening partner, and he’s just in his early 20s. That speaks volumes”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood praised opening batsman Abdullah Shafique for his ability to withstand pressure.
Going into the recent three-Test series against England, Shafique had been criticised for a string of low scores and expectations were high for him to produce a big knock.
The 24-year-old did exactly that in the first Test in Multan as he struck a superb 102, which came off 184 balls and included 10 boundaries and two sixes.
Overall, he finished with 132 runs in the series at an average of 26.40.
Despite not being able to register any notable scores after his hundred, Masood admitted that watching Shafique get that century was hugely satisfying.
“For me, Abdullah Shafique’s hundred is a bigger satisfaction. We talk about squad mentality and giving people consistent chances. And for him to take that pressure of not scoring runs in the last few Test matches and come up with a performance like this. He also lost his opening partner, and he’s just in his early 20s. That speaks volumes,” he was quoted as saying by PakPassion on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Pakistan ended up beating England 2-1, which gave them their first Test series victory on home soil since 2021.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a white-ball tour of Australia, where they will play three ODIs and three T20Is from November 4 to 18.
Afterwards, they will head to Zimbabwe for three ODIs and three T20Is from November 24 to December 5.
Pakistan Squad for Australia ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Pakistan Squad for Australia T20I Series: Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tayyab Tahir
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe T20I Series: Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Irfan Khan, Omair bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan
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