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[PICTURES/VIDEOS] Saud Shakeel: Essential or Liability?

G0rmintAunty said:
Just lies after lies by Sharjeel supporters. I am copy/pasting my comment from the Pak/Aus ODI thread where they were blabbering on and on about Sharjeel there too. I have observed that these are just stubborn attention seeking people (clique) who just want to go against common sense no matter how many facts you present to them.

All the rona dhona by the usual suspects about Sharjeej though I doubt they even follow what he's been doing. He failed in the NT20 where he only scored against the school cricket level sides in the first round but failed miserable once the more established sides came into the second round. Then he played the even lower quality Sindh league where he failed again aginst gully mohalla level bowlers and then even in the recent retired unkals championship he failed more often than not, yet somehow he will magically beat Australia into submission.

The delusion of these people is unbelievable. They complain and derail each thread by saying that people only play their favourites yet their answers are over the hill fatsos who don't even have the will power or ambition to get in shape to play like of Sharjeel and Umar Akmal. Maybe Sharjeel, UA etc should see how much these groupies have faith on them here and maybe they will have some ghairat and shame and maybe improve their fitness at least, so they can be contenders for the team till they reach 50.
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Gormint Aunty

Any form or shape of Sharjeel Khan>>>Abdullah Shafique, Imam ul Haq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood as white ball batters.

Sorry. This is the final verdict. No more fazool behs on this please
 
22nd First Class century for Karachi Whites' Saud Shakeel 120 (105) on the first day of the fourth round of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2024 against AJK.
 
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No surprises that such garbage opinions keep spewing from the Sarfaraz fanbois. Saud walks into any test team in the world.
 
Saud is a very sub-continent bully. As soon as there is some and seam in the wicket, you will find him struggling.
 
Can I ask why saud shakeel wasn't selected for aus and Zimbabwe?

He's clearly your best player of spin and your best test player atm?

If you give him some more time to cement himself in odi, he's easily avg 40 and 80 SR which for pakistani standards is a gold mine atm,

Since all our consistent accumulators like Imam and Babar have all fizzled out?

Ik he's had a poor run of form in odi atm, but in terms of class he's clearly one of tye few bright stars of pakistan.

3rd England test was a sure fire loss if it wasn't for his 100. The fact he was able to score a century in the 2nd innings shows how much of a natural he is against spin
 
Jason Gillespie is full of praises for Saud Shakeel's century against England in Rawalpindi.

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Saud walks in today against South africa in the 1st test match. Looking ok so far...
Let's see what he has got.
 
such a fluent innings by Saud so far. brings up his first Test 50 against South Africa

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BouncerGuy said:
It was a failure anyways. I knew it that he is not gonna do much in these conditions.
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Jee sir? Aap bilkul sahi khei rahein hain. What a failure of a player saud turned out to be.

Rubbish 2nd innings by him
 
Saud Shakeel has been smart in using the crease against Dane Paterson to counter the seam movement. By adjusting his position, he effectively negates the swing, showing good awareness and control compared to other bowlers.

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The last hope of Pakistan has also gone now. How would you rate Saud Shakeel's innings on Day 3 of the first Test against South Africa?

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Just like Babar Azam he also lost his wicket on a poor delivery. Must feel bad.

Yet again another beautiful innings by Saud. His first 50+ score outside Asia?
 
FearlessRoar said:
The last hope of Pakistan has also gone now. How would you rate Saud Shakeel's innings on Day 3 of the first Test against South Africa?

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gIlQ9hJ.jpg
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Former South Africa cricketer Chris Morris, after Day 3 of the first Test between South Africa and Pakistan, said this about Saud Shakeel:

“We spoke about how difficult this pitch is - it looked like Saud Shakeel was batting on a different surface, on a road. His balance was so good, and the way he paced his innings was excellent. This was an outstanding innings - he played the short ball brilliantly after getting out to it in the first innings. An unbelievable innings on a very difficult wicket. He’s a serious player.”
 
Threw it away we had a chance to make it tougher for them by taking lead to 175 but Saud bottled it
 
When will our players grow up, that was game for Saud to claim his international stature. Still a solid player play him at no. 4 against WI on phattas
 
FearlessRoar said:
Former South Africa cricketer Chris Morris, after Day 3 of the first Test between South Africa and Pakistan, said this about Saud Shakeel:

“We spoke about how difficult this pitch is - it looked like Saud Shakeel was batting on a different surface, on a road. His balance was so good, and the way he paced his innings was excellent. This was an outstanding innings - he played the short ball brilliantly after getting out to it in the first innings. An unbelievable innings on a very difficult wicket. He’s a serious player.”
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Morris was absolutely right.
 
Xoib said:
Yeah that’s why I am so angry he threw it away when he looked untroubled 175 target was still a possibility which would have added some more mental pressure on saffers to get the runs
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I think he was too meticulous. It was full tosses and he should have put it away.
 
Saud is a classy batsmen and should be persisted with. He's pakistan's best test batsmen and will probs be pakistan's best middle order batsmen if given the go ahead.

The only thing he needs to improve on his soft dismissals. He keeps getting out in the stupidest of shots or on deliveries he should not be getting out on like Full tosses.

However he is the best middle order batsmen in the country atm with fakhar and Saim being pakistan's best openers.
 
I can't believe people are jumping on him. He scored 84 on a pitch where only one other batsman in the entire match managed to amass a higher score. How about being a little grateful and appreciating what a fine knock it was? The dumbest take on this thread is from the genius who says he "bottled it". Yeah, mate he sure bottled it after scoring 84 out Pakistan's 236 runs and getting out while trying to simultaneously hit boundaries and farm the strike because he was batting with a No. 10.

Go look up the batting averages of some of your favorite Pakistani players in South Africa before you come up with these kind of dumb takes.
 
But coming back to Saud, so happy to see that he has improved his game against pace and bounce. In many ways, he was exposed in Australia by Hazelwood. And the similarity of his dismissals was what was most disappointing to see. So to see him bounce back from that horror tour by playing an innings of such substance was really pleasing to see. Because how many times have we seen a promising Pakistani batsman come onto the scene, and then they go to Australia and South Africa and their entire game is badly exposed.

So glad that Pakistan has found a batsman of Saud's caliber in the middle-order. He has a very high ceiling.
 
Rana said:
Amazing,

Was clueless against Rabada and Jansen today on a tough pitch
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@Caved12 @emranabbas @khyberlion

Saud Shakeel is yet another classic example of systemic failure in Pakistan's cricket setup. With a first-class average of 50+ over more than five seasons, his performances should have earned him a spot in the team long ago. In any "normal" cricketing system, his numbers would have been trusted, and he would have been a regular fixture by now.

Instead, he has been subjected to endless subjective criticisms, like "he's not good against pace," despite consistently proving his mettle.

Today, he demonstrated once again that success in Pakistan's domestic circuit is no fluke—if you can consistently score runs here, you clearly have something about you and you should get the chances.

In any other cricketing nation, especially one with a fragile batting lineup like Pakistan, Saud Shakeel would likely have played 50 ODIs by now. Pakistan plays just 4 tests in 2025 and he will get 20 days of cricket at best. What a waste!
 
Lovely player — the innings he played today was really good.
One of the few players who has a decent technique — as referenced by his ability to play today in a difficult wicket.
Hard to believe he’s only played fifteen Tests given he’s 29.
 
topspin said:
For those who're criticising him Saud Shakeel, you ought to redirect that energy at the likes of Babar, Imam and etc.

I mention Babar because Pakistan have been playing their full string attack against minnows + B/C string bowling attacks against the better teams, so therefore newer players don't get a good run of games. They get just thrown in the deep end.

Judge Saud, until he's played another 10-20 ODIs at least, so we need to cut his some slack. It's difficult for newer players to hit the ground running especially when in a World Cup.

Imam has played 70 ODIs and he can't even handle the short ball against Dutch and Sri Lankan trundlers. His shot range is still very limited. That's why for players like him, you can't hold much faith in them even from the very beginning of their international careers because there's nothing to be excited about. Not even a glimpse of potential.

People need to have realistic expectations. From what I've seen so far of Saud he technically looks good and should be persisted with after this WC even if he fails in the remaining games.

Abdullah Shafique has done quite well with limited exposure and is one for the future if his head remains the right place.
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Another reminder.
 
topspin said:
Another reminder.
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This is a helpful reminder 😂
Sometimes I can’t believe why Pakistani team management always make sure we don’t maximize talent we do get. And then blame the system and change it, again and again.
 
Farabi said:
@Caved12 @emranabbas @khyberlion

Saud Shakeel is yet another classic example of systemic failure in Pakistan's cricket setup. With a first-class average of 50+ over more than five seasons, his performances should have earned him a spot in the team long ago. In any "normal" cricketing system, his numbers would have been trusted, and he would have been a regular fixture by now.

Instead, he has been subjected to endless subjective criticisms, like "he's not good against pace," despite consistently proving his mettle.

Today, he demonstrated once again that success in Pakistan's domestic circuit is no fluke—if you can consistently score runs here, you clearly have something about you and you should get the chances.

In any other cricketing nation, especially one with a fragile batting lineup like Pakistan, Saud Shakeel would likely have played 50 ODIs by now. Pakistan plays just 4 tests in 2025 and he will get 20 days of cricket at best. What a waste!
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People who think domestic performances don’t matter, rely only on the eye test to judge players, and write them off after just one game with comments like “oh, he can’t play pace” clearly don’t understand the game. Most successful Test players have plenty of first-class experience. Take Bosch, for example—he came through domestic cricket and performed brilliantly in his home conditions. That’s how it usually works: domestic players excel at home but may initially struggle in tough away conditions.

The issue with our Test team is that it’s filled with players like Babar and Rizwan, who aren’t even dominating at home, while domestic performers don’t get enough opportunities. When these domestic players are finally given chances in difficult away conditions, they understandably struggle at first, but with time and exposure, they eventually adapt and improve.
 
emranabbas said:
People who think domestic performances don’t matter, rely only on the eye test to judge players, and write them off after just one game with comments like “oh, he can’t play pace” clearly don’t understand the game. Most successful Test players have plenty of first-class experience. Take Bosch, for example—he came through domestic cricket and performed brilliantly in his home conditions. That’s how it usually works: domestic players excel at home but may initially struggle in tough away conditions.

The issue with our Test team is that it’s filled with players like Babar and Rizwan, who aren’t even dominating at home, while domestic performers don’t get enough opportunities. When these domestic players are finally given chances in difficult away conditions, they understandably struggle at first, but with time and exposure, they eventually adapt and improve.
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Literally, I’ve lost patience 😂

In professional and intellectual environments, there is room for eye-based assessments and subjective opinions. However, in Pakistan's cricketing context—often plagued by personal biases and a lack of analytical rigor—there is a strong need for structured, data-driven forcing functions to ensure fairness and accountability.

For instance:

1. Any middle-order batter with a first-class average of 45+ over three seasons should automatically be prioritized for at least five Test matches. If not selected, the reasoning should be documented and require the PCB chairman's formal approval.

2. Similarly, there should be clear minimum benchmarks: for example, any batter with a strike rate below 135 in T20I formats should need explicit PCB chairman approval to remain in consideration.

These measures would help reduce bias and ensure merit-based decisions.
 
Farabi said:
This is a helpful reminder 😂
Sometimes I can’t believe why Pakistani team management always make sure we don’t maximize talent we do get. And then blame the system and change it, again and again.
Click to expand...

I still don’t understand why he was being written off so early when he was thrown in the deep end. It’s not like he was getting the same exposure like some of our frauds in our team (most notably Babar and Ifti) were getting in meaningles bilaterals against minnows and second/third string bowling attacks.

At least give him a chance. He deserves to be persisted because he’s technically very good and is capable of scoring runs at a good tempo.
 
topspin said:
I still don’t understand why he was being written off so early when he was thrown in the deep end. It’s not like he was getting the same exposure like some of our frauds in our team (most notably Babar and Ifti) were getting in meaningles bilaterals against minnows and second/third string bowling attacks.

At least give him a chance. He deserves to be persisted because he’s technically very good and is capable of scoring runs at a good tempo.
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He is already being persisted with, but it’s not good enough. He needs to be in ODI team as well.
 
Farabi said:
@Caved12 @emranabbas @khyberlion

Saud Shakeel is yet another classic example of systemic failure in Pakistan's cricket setup. With a first-class average of 50+ over more than five seasons, his performances should have earned him a spot in the team long ago. In any "normal" cricketing system, his numbers would have been trusted, and he would have been a regular fixture by now.

Instead, he has been subjected to endless subjective criticisms, like "he's not good against pace," despite consistently proving his mettle.

Today, he demonstrated once again that success in Pakistan's domestic circuit is no fluke—if you can consistently score runs here, you clearly have something about you and you should get the chances.

In any other cricketing nation, especially one with a fragile batting lineup like Pakistan, Saud Shakeel would likely have played 50 ODIs by now. Pakistan plays just 4 tests in 2025 and he will get 20 days of cricket at best. What a waste!
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Saud should have made his test debut at the same time as Babar. We wasted a few years of his career. He had horrid time at county and the Australian series, but it's evident he's worked on his game. He should also have been a mainstay of our odi team. It is imperative he's selected for CT. I honestly won't mind him opening in odis if fakhar is not coming back.
 
topspin said:
I still don’t understand why he was being written off so early when he was thrown in the deep end. It’s not like he was getting the same exposure like some of our frauds in our team (most notably Babar and Ifti) were getting in meaningles bilaterals against minnows and second/third string bowling attacks.

At least give him a chance. He deserves to be persisted because he’s technically very good and is capable of scoring runs at a good tempo.
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I remember when Babar made his debut, Saud was outperforming in FC and for the Pakistan A at that time. Babar was selected with Mediocre FC stats and saud with far superior stats was ignored for years. We have wasted at least 6 years of his career already and are still doing it in odis.
 
gazza619 said:
It makes zero sense not to have Saud in ODIs.
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Saud is only suitable for a opening role in ODIs but even there, he is competing with Fakhar (who is Pakistan's best LOI batter). Even if we push Fakhar in middle order (he could be more useful at 5 or 6), still he should be competing with Kamran as opener.

My batting lineup for CT,

1. Saim
2. Kamran/Saud
3. Babar
4. Rizwan
5. Salman
6. Fakhar
7. Niazi/Iftikhar
 
Greenstorm said:
Saud is only suitable for a opening role in ODIs but even there, he is competing with Fakhar (who is Pakistan's best LOI batter). Even if we push Fakhar in middle order (he could be more useful at 5 or 6), still he should be competing with Kamran as opener.

My batting lineup for CT,

1. Saim
2. Kamran/Saud
3. Babar
4. Rizwan
5. Salman
6. Fakhar
7. Niazi/Iftikhar
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You surely cant bat Fakhar at 6. That would be the ultimate move if we want to end his career.

I would go with:
1. Fakhar
2. Saim
3. Babar
4. Saud
5. Riz
6. Kamran
7. Agha
 
Farabi said:
@Caved12 @emranabbas @khyberlion

Saud Shakeel is yet another classic example of systemic failure in Pakistan's cricket setup. With a first-class average of 50+ over more than five seasons, his performances should have earned him a spot in the team long ago. In any "normal" cricketing system, his numbers would have been trusted, and he would have been a regular fixture by now.

Instead, he has been subjected to endless subjective criticisms, like "he's not good against pace," despite consistently proving his mettle.

Today, he demonstrated once again that success in Pakistan's domestic circuit is no fluke—if you can consistently score runs here, you clearly have something about you and you should get the chances.

In any other cricketing nation, especially one with a fragile batting lineup like Pakistan, Saud Shakeel would likely have played 50 ODIs by now. Pakistan plays just 4 tests in 2025 and he will get 20 days of cricket at best. What a waste!
Click to expand...
Saud, Sami Aslam and Imam played in 2014 U19 WC and it was clear early on that Saud and Sami were superior batsman. When Imam's uncle selected him, we could have easily brought in Saud as an opener in ODIs and Tests in place of Imam. Remember at one time we were opening with Imran Butt and some other guy in Tests !

Despite below par domestic structure, we could have been a top team if not for rishtaydarian and yaari dosti culture. Imagine Naseem Shah playing instead of Hassan Ali in 2021 T20 WC !
 
khyberlion said:
Saud should have made his test debut at the same time as Babar. We wasted a few years of his career. He had horrid time at county and the Australian series, but it's evident he's worked on his game. He should also have been a mainstay of our odi team. It is imperative he's selected for CT. I honestly won't mind him opening in odis if fakhar is not coming back.
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khyberlion said:
Saud should have made his test debut at the same time as Babar. We wasted a few years of his career. He had horrid time at county and the Australian series, but it's evident he's worked on his game. He should also have been a mainstay of our odi team. It is imperative he's selected for CT. I honestly won't mind him opening in odis if fakhar is not coming back.
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I agree. What I am saying is that this is yet another example of our so called experts getting it wrong. This is the reason I feel that there must be strong processes that override eye based assessment and opinions.
For example, a report should have been submitted to PCB chairman about why Saud is ignored despite 50+ FC average. The data should hold these guys accountable.

Also, a 50+ FC average doesn’t mean a player is perfect. But it kind of shows he is always improving his game. No one is perfect. But consistency in domestics shows professionalism and hard work, which increase chances that they will
also work hard in international arena.
For examples Imran Nazir “looked” a million dollars when he first burst on to the scene. But he didn’t put in any hard work and couldn’t sustain himself.
Consistency in domestic is sign of hard work and professionalism as well. They may not be perfect on debut, but they are more likely to address gaps.
 
Greenstorm said:
Saud, Sami Aslam and Imam played in 2014 U19 WC and it was clear early on that Saud and Sami were superior batsman. When Imam's uncle selected him, we could have easily brought in Saud as an opener in ODIs and Tests in place of Imam. Remember at one time we were opening with Imran Butt and some other guy in Tests !

Despite below par domestic structure, we could have been a top team if not for rishtaydarian and yaari dosti culture. Imagine Naseem Shah playing instead of Hassan Ali in 2021 T20 WC !
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But it’s been 10 years since. My problem is what were so called experts doing since?
Even since Imam’s debut, our middle order has also been pathetic in ODIs, and they couldn’t see Saud Shakeel with 50+ average in First class to play for Pakistan since 10 years? How hard was it?
 
Greenstorm said:
Saud is only suitable for a opening role in ODIs but even there, he is competing with Fakhar (who is Pakistan's best LOI batter). Even if we push Fakhar in middle order (he could be more useful at 5 or 6), still he should be competing with Kamran as opener.

My batting lineup for CT,

1. Saim
2. Kamran/Saud
3. Babar
4. Rizwan
5. Salman
6. Fakhar
7. Niazi/Iftikhar
Click to expand...
Fakhar is an opener and in no world should not be opening.

Saud Shakeel should be the first name on team sheet in middle order. If he’s doing so well at test level, how can he be ignored in OdIs.

You can put rest around him. Rizwan is not a no4, he’s at best no6.

Saim
Fakhar
Babar
Saud S
Kami
Agha
Rizwan
 
gazza619 said:
You surely cant bat Fakhar at 6. That would be the ultimate move if we want to end his career.

I would go with:
1. Fakhar
2. Saim
3. Babar
4. Saud
5. Riz
6. Kamran
7. Agha
Click to expand...
Problem with this lineup is that 3 to 7 all are similar type of batsmen (lack of six hitters). Fakhar in a recent interview has stated that he has no issue batting in middle order as he can capitalize against spin there. I think we need a genuine game changer in middle/late order. Every top team has one i.e Maxwell, Pandya, Miller etc. Instead of risking a 35 year old Fakhar against swinging new ball, his optimum use is to unleash him during middle/late part of the game.

Also, there is no reason to keep Iftikhar out of ODI team considering his stats.
 
Farabi said:
Fakhar is an opener and in no world should not be opening.

Saud Shakeel should be the first name on team sheet in middle order. If he’s doing so well at test level, how can he be ignored in OdIs.

You can put rest around him. Rizwan is not a no4, he’s at best no6.

Saim
Fakhar
Babar
Saud S
Kami
Agha
Rizwan
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Babar, Rizwan, Saud, KG and Agha are all similar type of batsman (maybe you can discount Agha). They are all accumulators with limited ability to score 12+ an over against top bowling. Playing them all in middle and late order is recipe for disaster.
 
Greenstorm said:
Problem with this lineup is that 3 to 7 all are similar type of batsmen (lack of six hitters). Fakhar in a recent interview has stated that he has no issue batting in middle order as he can capitalize against spin there. I think we need a genuine game changer in middle/late order. Every top team has one i.e Maxwell, Pandya, Miller etc. Instead of risking a 35 year old Fakhar against swinging new ball, his optimum use is to unleash him during middle/late part of the game.

Also, there is no reason to keep Iftikhar out of ODI team considering his stats.
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We simply have no solid consistent 6 hitters in the country. Rather than hoping someone would save the day by a quick fire knock at number 6, we need to take advantage of power plays and score more runs upfront.

By the way KG & Agha have shown they can be do some damage
 
Farabi said:
I agree. What I am saying is that this is yet another example of our so called experts getting it wrong. This is the reason I feel that there must be strong processes that override eye based assessment and opinions.
For example, a report should have been submitted to PCB chairman about why Saud is ignored despite 50+ FC average. The data should hold these guys accountable.

Also, a 50+ FC average doesn’t mean a player is perfect. But it kind of shows he is always improving his game. No one is perfect. But consistency in domestics shows professionalism and hard work, which increase chances that they will
also work hard in international arena.
For examples Imran Nazir “looked” a million dollars when he first burst on to the scene. But he didn’t put in any hard work and couldn’t sustain himself.
Consistency in domestic is sign of hard work and professionalism as well. They may not be perfect on debut, but they are more likely to address gaps.
Click to expand...
His case is nothing to do with eye test. It is mainly because we were stuck with azhar Ali and asad shafiq. Later instead of going for Saud, we decided to waste more time with fawad alam. Saud is very pleasing to the eye as a batter.
 
khyberlion said:
His case is nothing to do with eye test. It is mainly because we were stuck with azhar Ali and asad shafiq. Later instead of going for Saud, we decided to waste more time with fawad alam. Saud is very pleasing to the eye as a batter.
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It is. The "eye test" and subjective assessments aren’t just ruling out players based on how pretty their technique looks. It’s more sinister. What’s worse is when they prevent players from getting opportunities to prove or disprove perceived weaknesses. Writing off talent based on assumptions without evidence is not just unfair—it’s damaging.

Take Saud Shakeel, for example. Our current selector once openly mocked Saud’s height and build on live TV, claiming he couldn’t hit boundaries with his so-called "nazuk" (delicate) hands. It’s no wonder Saud was overlooked, despite his track record. For context, he opened in the PSL last year, maintaining a strike rate of 140+, with 15 sixes and 31 boundaries—hardly the stats of someone “too delicate” for ODI cricket.

Can you name another cricketing nation where a batter with an FC average of over 50 across multiple seasons and proven international performances has been restricted to just 16 Tests and a few ODIs? Especially when that country’s batting lineup is often underwhelming.

Saud was sidelined because of a "perceived" weakness against pace, even though those in the team weren’t exactly dismantling pacers like Viv Richards. Ironically, many of them couldn’t even play spin effectively. This highlights how flawed perceptions, rather than tangible performances, continue to obstruct talent in our cricket system.
 
Prince of Pakistan said:
Just like Babar Azam he also lost his wicket on a poor delivery. Must feel bad.

Yet again another beautiful innings by Saud. His first 50+ score outside Asia?
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It's only his 4th Test outside Asia.

Nice to see him do well. It was absurd how much hate he got after the Australia even though we always have batsmen doing horribly their first time in Australia. Maybe if PCB ever arranged A tours for players to play in conditions like Australia/NZ/SA/England before they tour for the first time internationally, maybe we wouldn't see such poor results from players in their first go-round there.

He's a solid Test player and it seems to be a rarity in Pakistani cricket to have a middle order batsmen who's left handed. Other than brief play from Haris & Farad, it's hard to recall any good left handed batsmen in the middle order.

It's good to hear from his presser that he is continuing to develop his game and work on expanding his shots. We've seen that come through in the PSL too so the continued self development is good to see. Wish we would see this from other players too *cough Babar cough*.
 
Saud proves his worth in middle order once again. That was a top knock. SHould have got a hundred but anyways, it was a good knock.

This shows how many passengers we have in the team atm.
 
Greenstorm said:
Problem with this lineup is that 3 to 7 all are similar type of batsmen (lack of six hitters). Fakhar in a recent interview has stated that he has no issue batting in middle order as he can capitalize against spin there. I think we need a genuine game changer in middle/late order. Every top team has one i.e Maxwell, Pandya, Miller etc. Instead of risking a 35 year old Fakhar against swinging new ball, his optimum use is to unleash him during middle/late part of the game.

Also, there is no reason to keep Iftikhar out of ODI team considering his stats.
Click to expand...

I saw the same interview, and that’s not what he said. The question was about his role in T20Is. He mentioned that as an opener, he naturally prefers opening, but if the team management believes “it benefits the team” and “other players can’t do what I can in the middle,” he’s open to it.

That’s as much as he can say as a contracted player. It’s clear enough for anyone reading between the lines. What do you expect? If he openly says he doesn’t want to bat in the middle order, it’ll spark unnecessary controversy.

Fakhar is our only proper white-ball player right now. He’s already been wasted in T20Is—let’s not waste his opening skills in ODIs too. The team should be built around him.
 
Nasty Naz said:
It's only his 4th Test outside Asia.

Nice to see him do well. It was absurd how much hate he got after the Australia even though we always have batsmen doing horribly their first time in Australia. Maybe if PCB ever arranged A tours for players to play in conditions like Australia/NZ/SA/England before they tour for the first time internationally, maybe we wouldn't see such poor results from players in their first go-round there.

He's a solid Test player and it seems to be a rarity in Pakistani cricket to have a middle order batsmen who's left handed. Other than brief play from Haris & Farad, it's hard to recall any good left handed batsmen in the middle order.

It's good to hear from his presser that he is continuing to develop his game and work on expanding his shots. We've seen that come through in the PSL too so the continued self development is good to see. Wish we would see this from other players too *cough Babar cough*.
Click to expand...
And some “experts” had already made him Asia specialist.
 
Farabi said:
It is. The "eye test" and subjective assessments aren’t just ruling out players based on how pretty their technique looks. It’s more sinister. What’s worse is when they prevent players from getting opportunities to prove or disprove perceived weaknesses. Writing off talent based on assumptions without evidence is not just unfair—it’s damaging.

Take Saud Shakeel, for example. Our current selector once openly mocked Saud’s height and build on live TV, claiming he couldn’t hit boundaries with his so-called "nazuk" (delicate) hands. It’s no wonder Saud was overlooked, despite his track record. For context, he opened in the PSL last year, maintaining a strike rate of 140+, with 15 sixes and 31 boundaries—hardly the stats of someone “too delicate” for ODI cricket.

Can you name another cricketing nation where a batter with an FC average of over 50 across multiple seasons and proven international performances has been restricted to just 16 Tests and a few ODIs? Especially when that country’s batting lineup is often underwhelming.

Saud was sidelined because of a "perceived" weakness against pace, even though those in the team weren’t exactly dismantling pacers like Viv Richards. Ironically, many of them couldn’t even play spin effectively. This highlights how flawed perceptions, rather than tangible performances, continue to obstruct talent in our cricket system.
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The boundaries example is for odis not tests. The likes of asad shafiq, azhar Ali and fawad alam robbed him of 30 odd tests at least.
 
khyberlion said:
The boundaries example is for odis not tests. The likes of asad shafiq, azhar Ali and fawad alam robbed him of 30 odd tests at least.
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My point isn’t about Tests or ODIs—it’s about Aqib Javed, the so-called "expert," questioning and dropping Saud Shakeel from the ODI side. During World Cup 2023, he mocked Saud on TV, questioning his selection in the World Cup and claiming his “small build and nazuk chotay hath” made him incapable of hitting boundaries. Now that Aqib Javed is in charge, Saud has been dropped—no surprise there. Is this how player selection should work, based on whims and eye-based assessments? Someone should remind Aqib of Saud’s PSL stats, where he hit 15 sixes and 31 boundaries last season with those so-called “nazuk hands.” Our “experts” truly are a disgrace!

And let’s not forget, even in Test cricket, Usman Salahuddin and Agha Salman were picked over Saud, delaying his debut despite his clear talent.
 
Xoib said:
Threw it away we had a chance to make it tougher for them by taking lead to 175 but Saud bottled it
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It was actually Babar Azam who bottled it up. He got out to a nothing delivery and after that Pakistan just kept losing wickets. Very poor performance from Shan and especially Rizwan also. The senior players did not take the responsibility. Poor captaincy from Shan. Should have given ball to spinners against tailenders after watching what happend in first innings.
 
Farabi said:
My point isn’t about Tests or ODIs—it’s about Aqib Javed, the so-called "expert," questioning and dropping Saud Shakeel from the ODI side. During World Cup 2023, he mocked Saud on TV, questioning his selection in the World Cup and claiming his “small build and nazuk chotay hath” made him incapable of hitting boundaries. Now that Aqib Javed is in charge, Saud has been dropped—no surprise there. Is this how player selection should work, based on whims and eye-based assessments? Someone should remind Aqib of Saud’s PSL stats, where he hit 15 sixes and 31 boundaries last season with those so-called “nazuk hands.” Our “experts” truly are a disgrace!

And let’s not forget, even in Test cricket, Usman Salahuddin and Agha Salman were picked over Saud, delaying his debut despite his clear talent.
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And now clueless aqib is out coach maybe that's why saud isn't being considered for odis. I agree agha salman, iftikhar etc had no business in being selected ahead of saud.
 
IAJ said:
It was actually Babar Azam who bottled it up. He got out to a nothing delivery and after that Pakistan just kept losing wickets. Very poor performance from Shan and especially Rizwan also. The senior players did not take the responsibility. Poor captaincy from Shan. Should have given ball to spinners against tailenders after watching what happend in first innings.
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Both tried their best. The rest bottled it. Rabada and Jansen stood up. Why didn’t our tail stand up! Where were Agha and Rizwan. Why did Shan and Saim throw away their starts. It’s a team sport
 
khyberlion said:
And now clueless aqib is out coach maybe that's why saud isn't being considered for odis. I agree agha salman, iftikhar etc had no business in being selected ahead of saud.
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This has been my point all along.
I get that “experts” should have powers. But our experts are as clueless and biased as they come. Talent keeps getting wasted.
This is why i ignore and tune out subjective analysis and just look at data. It ain’t perfect but it’s better than relying on judgement of such “experts”
 
Saud Shakeel has moved up 3 spots to number 6th in the latest ICC rankings.

The boy is moving towards the top... NICE
 
BouncerGuy said:
Saud Shakeel has moved up 3 spots to number 6th in the latest ICC rankings.

The boy is moving towards the top... NICE
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My icc rankings, objectively based of 2024.

1) Joe Root
2) Harry Brooks
3) Kane Williamson
4) Jaiswal
5) Travis Head
6) Steve Smith
7) Saud Shakeel
8) Pant
9) Mendis
10) Bavuma

^^ This is all factoring in the quality knocks that they've played. Wanted to put travis head higher due to BGT, but beyond BGT, he's been avg this year, Same for smith however quality over quantity.

This is my objective rankings of who performed the best this year. But in terms of batting quality, Root and Smith are head and shoulders > the rest in terms of achievements. And I can't believe fraud bavuma actually managed to scrap by on this list. Unbelievable.
 
Saud should play for upcoming ODI series with WI/NZ/SA to judge if he could do well for Champions Trophy.
 
Had a nightmare in Australia last year but hopefully that 80 odd in the 1st Test is the turning point for him outside Asia.

With Babar's decline we desperately need some solidity in the middle-order, and Saud and Kamran stepping up has been encouraging to see.
 
Magic trick from Kagiso Rabada and an unnecessary move from Saud Shakeel to try hitting the covers

Day 2 of the second Test between South Africa and Pakistan

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Essential VS Zim/Ban/Ireland in Pakistan(flat pitch only)
Liability against rest of the teams irrespective of playing at home or away...
 
For some reason he’s wanting to start like Travis Head I saw this in the domestic season as well when he was going more then run a ball I think he’s desperate to get in the white ball team
And get more league gigs and trying to use tests to showcase his attacking prowess. Not needed at all
 
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