Star Pakistan batter Saud Shakeel was pleased with his performance against the Netherlands in their opening game of the ODI World Cup in Hyderabad on Friday. The 28-year-old batted brilliantly in the middle, stepping up to the team in a testy circumstance to assist them in scoring a respectable total in the game.
Just over two months ago, Saud Shakeel was not even a contender for the World Cup 2023 but was named in the playing 11 for the opening game against the Netherlands over Salman Ali Agha. The Left-handed opener scored 68 runs off just 52 balls, which helped him to earn the Player of the Match award on his World Cup debut.
Speaking on Post-match Interaction, Saud Shakeel acknowledged that he had been working hard on his game over the past several months, claimed to have the clarity necessary to prepare for the No. 5 place for the squad at the World Cup, and thanked the support staff for having faith in him.
“I’ve been working hard on my game during the last 2-3 months. I knew I’ll be batting in this position for Pakistan, number 5, so I developed my game according to that. I tried to improve my shots, reverse sweeps, and attacking options. I tried to be brave to utilize my skills – that’s the main thing.”
” The coaching staff has given me confidence. I want to thank my coach Hanif Malik for helping me out. This one is for him,” Saud Shakeel said.
Pakistan was put to the test in the first game itself when they were battling at 38/3 after the Netherlands Bowlers had removed their top three batsmen in the first 10 overs. Meanwhile, Saud Shakeel applied excellent composure in the middle to score Pakistan’s second-fastest 50-over World Cup fifty next to Inzamam ul Haq’s 31-ball World Cup fifty from 1992.
The Men in Green seems to have found a batter in Saud Shakeel, who along with his skills, has the temperament to thrive in the high-pressure games for the team, given his exceptional performance in the longer format of the game for Pakistan. The 28-year-old had only featured in six ODIs before the game against the Netherlands but impressed everyone with the ability to take on the bowlers in the middle overs of the game.
Despite a top-order collapse, Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel staged the comeback of Pakistan in the match, while Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan also contributed significantly at the end with the team finishing at 286 at the end of 49 overs in the game.
With 287 runs to defend in the game, Pakistan bowlers have bowled very well in the game and picked up wickets in the regular intervals to restrict the Dutch side to 205 runs, with Haris Rauf being the pick of the bowler in the game for the Babar Azam-led side.
