Faisal Iqbal: “In my opinion, Saud Shakeel is definitely an all-format player who is consistently proving [himself] with his gutsy stoke play which is clearly visible to all globally. Now the question is why is he provokingly labelled to only red-ball. It’s mind-boggling”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan cricketer Faisal Iqbal believes middle order batsman Saud Shakeel is “definitely an all-format player” and shouldn’t be classed as a Test specialist.
Shakeel has mainly been utilised in Test cricket lately and has brought stability to the middle order as he has established himself as a dependable run-scorer.
He recently featured in Pakistan’s two-Test series against South Africa and scored 121 runs, which included a top score of 84, at an average of 30.25.
The 29-year-old followed it up with 131 runs in two Tests against the West Indies in Multan, which once again included a top score of 84, at an average of 32.75.
Given the way he bats, Faisal finds it “mind-boggling” that people think Shakeel is only suited for Test cricket.
“In my opinion, Saud Shakeel is definitely an all-format player who is consistently proving [himself] with his gutsy stoke play which is clearly visible to all globally. Now the question is why is he provokingly labelled to only red-ball. It’s mind-boggling,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Shakeel made his return to the ODI team for the tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa, where he made 23 runs in two games at an average of 11.50.
He followed that up with 68 runs in two matches during the 2025 Champions Trophy, which included a top score of 62, at an average of 34.
Pakistan were eliminated in the group stage of the tournament after losing to New Zealand and India.
Their final match against Bangladesh was washed out.
Pakistan Squad for 2025 Champions Trophy: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah
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