Pakistan player Saud Shakeel had a great show in the World Cup opener against the Netherlands with a 52-ball 68. However, despite an 81-run win to begin their World Cup campaign on Friday, they could manage 286. Shakeel walked out to bat when Pakistan were in trouble. He added a 120-run stand for the fourth wicket with Mohammad Rizwan and helped his side as well.
“There were nerves. But I was lucky that I found a few odd boundaries. Sometimes it happens that you find such boundaries, it makes it easier for you. I was clear in my mind that I wanted to attack and play positive cricket. Rizwan bhai’s role was to go long but my plan was simple. I had focused on a few bowlers of the Netherlands. If I had to hit from above, I would take a chance. I did that. I took a chance. I was trying to stay positive and kept attacking the bowlers I had targeted,” Saud Shakeel said about his knock.
However, he also added, “I knew sometime back that I would play this match. I played a warm-up match and I had good batting there.”
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Meanwhile, the 28-year-old’s limited-overs career has not been good so far. Having made his debut more than two years ago, he has managed to feature in only six ODIs so far as well.
“I think it [Test cricket]is the most difficult format, you know that. So, when you perform well there, you gain a lot of confidence,” Shakeel said after his match-winning performance on Friday. “I think I performed very well in the Test matches, so my confidence level was very high. But at the same time, I was focusing a lot on my white-ball cricket. I was focusing a lot on my game. I could see that my numbers for playing for Pakistan were 5-6 (batting order). Babar Azam plays at 3 and Rizwan plays at 4. I tried to develop my game and worked hard for it. A person has a vision and works hard for it. I tried the same. I could see that I am not playing much One-Day cricket, not much white-ball domestic cricket in Pakistan in which I can prove my point. But at the same time, when I played Test match cricket for Sri Lanka, I showed that I am ready for white-ball cricket.”
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“It (the adjustments needed to bat at No 5 and 6) was more of a mindset change. A few years back I never used to hit big shots like this, I didn’t take many chances. I preferred to play on the ground. But I made my mindset that I have to accept one thing – the number at which you’re going to play for Pakistan. It is very important to realise that as a player. So, I made my game plan accordingly… I practised playing sweeps and reverse sweeps. I tried to adapt and I think the best thing is that we came to India to play the World Cup. It’s really good here. If you settle here, you get the value of your shots. So, I think that’s in my mind. And I try to stay in good shape and keep my technique so that I don’t make shots that are too hard and I’m succeeding in that,” Saud Shakeel concluded.
