Ashraf earns praise for match-winning performance

Domestic coach, Abdul Razzaq both praise him for unbeaten 64 against Bangladesh

KARACHI: All-rounder Fahim Ashraf’s half-century guided Pakistan to a two-wicket win in a nail-biting encounter against Bangladesh in their first warm-up match of the ICC Champions Trophy, and he has rightly earned plaudits from all quarters for his performance.

The 23-year-old came in at number 9 to change the situation of the game, scoring an unbeaten 64 off just 30 balls, hitting four sixes and just as many fours along the way.

Ashraf’s Faisalabad coach, Tanveer Shaukat, was quick to praise his charge. “Ashraf has always been an outstanding player. He is the quickest to adapt to the coach’s plans,” he said.

The boy from Kasur has been playing under Shaukat since the U16s. “He was never much of a talker, rather focusing on his game and listening to whatever the coach told him to do,” Shaukat told The Express Tribune. “He has the ability to adopt whatever he is taught and just does what he is told.”

Ashraf may be a bowling all-rounder but he lead his Faisalabad U19 team in 2014 to the championship where he was named the best batsman of the tournament. “He could always bat,” said Shaukat. “In that tournament, he was batting at number five. It may come as a surprise for some to see his big hitting but we have been seeing it for a few years now.”

The 23-year-old is now more of a bowler than he was a few years ago but Shaukat believes he can still clear the boundary with ease. “He doesn’t get much chance now to bat since he comes in at number eight in domestic cricket. But I can guarantee you that if he is sent in earlier, he will be able to do well too,” he said. “He can be the next seam-bowling all-rounder that the team needs.”

The man Ashraf is out to replace, former all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, feels he has what it takes to fill his boots; still vacant in the side. “He has the ability to fill the place of the fast-bowling all-rounder that Pakistan are in search of,” he said. “He can bowl well and has showed his batting skills too.”