Sikandar Raza: “Especially in the longer format, he’s going to be very consistent, and he’s going to win Pakistan a lot of games”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza has predicted that Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique will win a lot of matches in Test cricket.
Shafique has enjoyed a solid start to his Test career thus far, amassing 1,504 runs in 22 matches, which includes five centuries and five fifties, at an average of 38.56.
Lately, however, the 25-year-old seems to be falling out of favour with the selectors as he was not included in the playing XI for both matches in the two-Test series against South Africa.
To make matters worse, he was dropped for the two-Test series against the West Indies in Multan, which ended as a 1-1 draw.
Even though things haven’t been going Shafique’s way in Test cricket as of late, Raza remains optimistic that the Sialkot native will become a consistent run-scorer and lead Pakistan to victory many times.
“Especially in the longer format, he’s going to be very consistent, and he’s going to win Pakistan a lot of games,” he told Cricket Pakistan.
Shafique was not picked for the ODI tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa, and the 2025 Champions Trophy, but did end up getting selected for the limited overs tour of New Zealand.
He only featured in the three-match ODI series and finished with 70 runs at an average of 23.33.
Currently, Shafique is representing the Lahore Qalandars in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and has accumulated 127 runs in four games, which includes a top score of 66, at an average of 31.75 and a strike-rate of 153.01.
As for Raza, he is also playing for the Qalandars and has scored 89 runs in four matches, which includes a top score of 50 not out, at an average of 44.50 and a strike-rate of 150.84.
Bowling-wise, he has taken five wickets at an average of 11 and an economy rate of six.
PSL 10 began on April 11 and will finish on May 18.
Lahore Qalandars Squad for PSL 10:
- Platinum: Daryl Mitchell, Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain)
- Diamond: Haris Rauf, Kusal Perera, Sikandar Raza
- Gold: Abdullah Shafique, Jahandad Khan, Zaman Khan
- Silver: Asif Afridi, Asif Ali, David Wiese, Muhammad Akhlaq, Rishad Hossain
- Emerging: Mohammad Azab, Momin Qamar
- Supplementary: Muhammad Naeem, Sam Billings, Salman Ali Mirza, Tom Curran
[TS_Poll id=”164″]