Asad Shafiq: Rise of an unnoticed star
30-year-old rescued his team on two occassions in first Test, but failed to receive praise for his efforts
Pakistan's Asad Shafiq plays a shot on the third day of the first Test cricket match between England and Pakistan at Lord's cricket ground in London, on July 16, 2016. PHOTO: AFP
As soon as the Lord’s Test came to a glorious conclusion for the Green caps, everyone in the cricketing world was pleasantly surprised to see the rise of Misbah’s men in the situation which was exaggeratedly murky before the series had begun.
There was discussion — mostly atrocious — surrounding the return of young Muhammad Amir, who was about to resume his Test career on the same venue where it halted six years back when he was convicted in the notorious 2010 spot-fixing scandal
There were questions as to how he would perform on his return to the scene of crime, and there were even suggestions that he should never have been allowed to return to the game itself.
However, once the match started, the limelight was taken away — first by captain Misbahul Haq, who scored a stunning century on his Lord’s debut, and then leg-spinner Shah’s 10-wicket haul stole the show. If that wasn’t enough, the national team’s novel celebratory style of dropping to the ground and executing a series of push ups pushed Amir into the background — except for a few choice praises on social media for his dismissal of the opposition’s tail in their second innings.
Then there were also occasional compliments for Rahat Ali, who picked up the first three crucial wickets in the fourth innings of the match, and for fiery Wahab Riaz, who regardless of his figures, showed the world that he still remains the leader of the pack.
However, in the midst of that all, we forgot to laud the efforts of someone who looks anything but like a hero with his looks, posture or style.
Asad Shafiq is the one who remains unnoticed for all of what he has achieved so far in his career in whites.
The right-handed batsman finished the match as the highest run-getter in either team in the first Test with 122 runs.
Even though captain Misbah scored the only century of the match and his England counterpart Alastair Cook scored the second highest number of runs in a single innings in the match, the Karachi-born middle-order batsman played undoubtedly two of the most vital knocks in the match.
Shafiq, who is widely renowned for his good technique, showed his class once again as he joined his leader on the crease at a time on day one, when the Green Caps were in a spot of bother at 134-4, and added crucial 148 runs for the fifth wicket with the skipper.
In the second innings, his role was even more critical as he joined veteran Younus Khan on a slow, low and dry pitch, and scored a fluent 49 that made sure the bowlers will have more than something substantial to rely on, come the fourth innings.
It was not the first time when the little man from Karachi stood up for his team when he was needed the most, as he did the same in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle in 2015, where in the first innings, he along with with wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed, rescued Pakistan from 96-5 and took his team well over the opposition’s first-innings total of 300, which earned Pakistan a famous victory.
Be it in Sharjah against New Zealand and or be it in Capetown against South Africa, Shafiq raised his game in the most testing times, and that’s why there is no surprise as he became only the ninth player in the history of the game to score 2,500 runs while batting at number six in Test cricket.
The 30-year-old also holds the record of most number of centuries (eight) at number six along with West Indies great Gary Sobers.
We often hear about praises for ODI captain Azhar Ali and T20I captain Sarfraz about how they deliver when it matters the most, and we’re also told time and again how the two veterans Younus and Misbah still remain the backbone of the team’s batting line-up.
However, it almost feels as if we have taken the services of Asad Shafiq for granted and he never receives the praise he deserves. As of today, it’s hard to recall anyone playing better than him in the world at number six in the longest format of the game.
There was discussion — mostly atrocious — surrounding the return of young Muhammad Amir, who was about to resume his Test career on the same venue where it halted six years back when he was convicted in the notorious 2010 spot-fixing scandal
There were questions as to how he would perform on his return to the scene of crime, and there were even suggestions that he should never have been allowed to return to the game itself.
However, once the match started, the limelight was taken away — first by captain Misbahul Haq, who scored a stunning century on his Lord’s debut, and then leg-spinner Shah’s 10-wicket haul stole the show. If that wasn’t enough, the national team’s novel celebratory style of dropping to the ground and executing a series of push ups pushed Amir into the background — except for a few choice praises on social media for his dismissal of the opposition’s tail in their second innings.
Then there were also occasional compliments for Rahat Ali, who picked up the first three crucial wickets in the fourth innings of the match, and for fiery Wahab Riaz, who regardless of his figures, showed the world that he still remains the leader of the pack.
However, in the midst of that all, we forgot to laud the efforts of someone who looks anything but like a hero with his looks, posture or style.
Asad Shafiq is the one who remains unnoticed for all of what he has achieved so far in his career in whites.
The right-handed batsman finished the match as the highest run-getter in either team in the first Test with 122 runs.
Amir set for 'new life', says Misbah
Even though captain Misbah scored the only century of the match and his England counterpart Alastair Cook scored the second highest number of runs in a single innings in the match, the Karachi-born middle-order batsman played undoubtedly two of the most vital knocks in the match.
Shafiq, who is widely renowned for his good technique, showed his class once again as he joined his leader on the crease at a time on day one, when the Green Caps were in a spot of bother at 134-4, and added crucial 148 runs for the fifth wicket with the skipper.
In the second innings, his role was even more critical as he joined veteran Younus Khan on a slow, low and dry pitch, and scored a fluent 49 that made sure the bowlers will have more than something substantial to rely on, come the fourth innings.
Yasir Shah becomes ICC's top-ranked Test bowler
It was not the first time when the little man from Karachi stood up for his team when he was needed the most, as he did the same in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle in 2015, where in the first innings, he along with with wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed, rescued Pakistan from 96-5 and took his team well over the opposition’s first-innings total of 300, which earned Pakistan a famous victory.
Be it in Sharjah against New Zealand and or be it in Capetown against South Africa, Shafiq raised his game in the most testing times, and that’s why there is no surprise as he became only the ninth player in the history of the game to score 2,500 runs while batting at number six in Test cricket.
The 30-year-old also holds the record of most number of centuries (eight) at number six along with West Indies great Gary Sobers.
We often hear about praises for ODI captain Azhar Ali and T20I captain Sarfraz about how they deliver when it matters the most, and we’re also told time and again how the two veterans Younus and Misbah still remain the backbone of the team’s batting line-up.
However, it almost feels as if we have taken the services of Asad Shafiq for granted and he never receives the praise he deserves. As of today, it’s hard to recall anyone playing better than him in the world at number six in the longest format of the game.