Basit Ali on Abdullah Shafique: “Explain to Abdullah that balls at shoulder height are for the pull shot, and balls above the head are for the hook shot – but he even tries to pull those above the head. These are the things you need to teach – which ball to pull and which to hook”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali believes top order batsman Abdullah Shafique needs to be told which balls to pull and which ones to hook.
He noted that Shafique is trying to pull deliveries that are above his head, which is the wrong shot to play.
Basit pointed out that this batting coach Hanif Malik’s job as he should be spotting technical flaws being exhibited by players in the squad.
“Explain to Abdullah that balls at shoulder height are for the pull shot, and balls above the head are for the hook shot – but he even tries to pull those above the head. These are the things you need to teach – which ball to pull and which to hook,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Geo Super.
Shafique did not feature in Pakistan’s T20I series against Bangladesh in Lahore, the tour of Bangladesh, and the three T20Is against the West Indies.
He did end up taking part in the three ODIs Pakistan played against the West Indies and amassed 55 runs at an average of 18.33.
After the tour of the West Indies, the 25-year-old was left out of the squad for the T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan in Sharjah.
He also failed to the make the cut for the ongoing 2025 Asia Cup, which is being played in the UAE.
Pakistan began with a 93-run win over Oman before losing to India by seven wickets.
Despite this, they beat the UAE by 41 runs to secure their spot in the Super Four.
However, their Super Four journey has gotten off to a rocky start as India crushed them by six wickets.
Pakistan will look to get back to winning ways when they face Sri Lanka on September 23 in Abu Dhabi.
Pakistan squad for UAE T20I tri-series and 2025 Asia Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem