Weekly Talent Spotlight #2: Abdullah Shafique
Making his T20I debut before his PSL debut, what talent is bestowed upon the 21-year-old?
DISCLAIMER: THIS WEEKLY TALENT SPOTLIGHT EDITION IS FOR THE WEEK OF 8th OCTOBER-15th OCTOBER
Abdullah Shafique - battling and striving through the ruthless Pakistani cricket structure
Roots and Early Life
Traditionally, Pakistani households expect their children to traverse in the path of education, complete their studies and to not go off on other routes such as cricket. However, in the case of Abdullah Shafique, he belongs to a family with cricket in their DNA. With that additional variable in the equation, one may ponder how Shafique’s aspiration and chances to make it big in cricket differed from other Pakistani’s children.
Shafique’s uncle, Arshad Ali represented the United Arab Emirates, while his father Shafiq Ahmed Sr has been the coach of Gems Modern Academy in the UAE since 2005 -- cricket runs in their blood. When Shafque first started playing cricket, he did not have much intrinsic passion for the game, but was inspired by his uncle’s game and drive to do well. While his father is supportive of his cricketing aspirations, he also wants him to carry on with his studies, as like with any sport, not everyone can crack cricket and make it to the professional level.
As for the setting he grew up in, Shafique hails from Sialkot, the football capital of the world -- nearly 70% of the world’s soccer balls are produced in this city. Sialkot is also home to the Brazuca and Telstar 18, the official FIFA World Cup balls for the 2014 and 2018 editions respectively. Sialkot also has its fair share of producing famed cricketers, namely Zaheer Abbas, Ijaz Ahmed, Mohammad Abbas, and Shoaib Malik.
Early Days
Shafique had been climbing up the ladder since his U16 days for Sialkot, regularly amongst the leading runs scorers in Inter-District Tournament at the U19 level as well. He also represented Pakistan U19 in the 2016 ICC U19 Asia Cup, sharing the platform with eventual stars Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw, and Afif Hossain.
Before his breakthrough for Central Punjab’s first XI side in 2020, Shafique was playing second XI cricket for them. In the 2019/20 Quaid-e-Azam 2nd XI Trophy, he scored 545 runs across 6 matches while averaging 68.13, with a top score of 205.
About a year before his T20 century on debut, Shafique made his first XI Quaid-e-Azam Trophy debut (also his First-Class debut) in the final round of the tournament and scored a century on FC debut against the same opposition - Southern Punjab. Scoring 133 runs off 209 deliveries, the bowling attack included Rahat Ali, Zulfiqar Babar, and Zahid Mehmood. His 133 included 16 fours and a six.
Love-Hate At First Sight
In the 2020 National T20 Cup, Shafique was the highest run-scorer for Central Punjab, scoring 358 runs at an average of 44.75 whilst striking at 133.08 across 10 matches. This was also his maiden first XI tournament, and he scored a ton on debut against Southern Punjab against a bowling attack that included Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Ilyas, Zahid Mehmood, and Umer Khan. He finished not out on 102, scoring it off 58 deliveries, striking at 175.86, including 11 fours and 4 sixes, and won the Man of The Match Award.
And yet, this season, despite being Central Punjab’s top run-scorer from last season, he was benched for their first 3 matches. It took the 21-year-old a loan window to get match time this season, as he was eventually loaned out to Balochistan. Shafique was the victim of Central Punjab and Pakistan’s captain Babar Azam’s fervid passion for “experienced players” (formally known as seniors in Pakistani stratosphere). Shafique, being the run machine he is, would end up as the top run-scorer for Balochistan, scoring 259 runs at an average of 37 odd whilst striking at 132.14 across 7 matches.
More recently, Shafique scored 155 runs off 122 deliveries, striking at 138.39 and averaging 51.67 in the National T20 Cup, scoring 73 against Northern, 60 against Central Punjab, and 22 against Sindh respectively -- he top-scored for Balochistan in two out of three occasions. The Northern bowling attack included Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Musa, Nauman Ali, and Zaman Khan, while the bowling attack of the team that loaned him out included Faheem Ashraf, Sameen Gul, and Wahab Riaz.
His First Taste Of International Cuisine
Shafique’s antics in his debut National T20 Cup season opened the door for international selection against Zimbabwe in the final T20I of the series at Rawalpindi, where he scored a 33 ball 41 including 4 fours and a six, as he became the first player since the inception of the PSL to have made their T20I debut before their PSL debut.
Ironically, Shafique's father did not watch his son make his international debut on TV live, citing he would be worrying about his performance and his own health.
The Zimbabwe knock would subsequently lead him to be the victim of a phenomenon also quite prevalent in Pakistan cricket: premature selection. He was selected for the tour of New Zealand last December as a part of Pakistan’s T20I contingent.
As mentioned before, Shafique is yet to make his PSL debut. He was drafted once in the PSL in the Emerging category for Multan Sultans in the 2018 edition for $10,000 before he had even turned 18 but never played a game. While T20 leagues today are supposed to bridge the gap between domestic cricket and international cricket for players cut from the same cloth as Shafique, here, he was thrusted into unfamiliar conditions without the required development to precede it.
It wasn’t expected that Shafique would play in New Zealand, but the path was paved for him after Babar sustained a thumb injury during a training session. The switch to playing on lush green pitches overseas proved to be too alien for the young man from Sialkot, as he scored back-to-back second ball ducks in the first 2 T20Is of the New Zealand series. Shafique was then released from the squad to join the Pakistan Shaheens after the T20I series was over, who was playing a series of practice matches against New Zealand domestic, A/XI sides. He scored 50 runs in the 3 matches he played, averaging 16.67 whilst striking at 128.20, with a top score of 35 against New Zealand XI.
Traditionally, youngsters who have such a forgettable international debut and run with the A-side are sent straight back to the domestic circuit to work and improve on their game and technique. But that unironically did not happen with Shafique. In January of this year, Shafique was only able to play one match in the Pakistan Cup, as the PCB deemed it was more feasible for him to warm the bench and rub shoulders with the archetypical “experienced campaigners” than to get live match time in the domestic circuit.
After that horrid run in New Zealand, Shafique was warming the bench bubble after bubble, be it in South Africa, Zimbabwe, West Indies, or England.
This month, however, after ages of traversing in the draining world known as the bio-bubble, it seems lady luck has finally decided to shine down the Sialkoti, as he was named in the Shaheens squads for both the Four Day and List A series in Sri Lanka from 28th October to 14th November, and gave Central Punjab a dose of their own medicine in the same month.
Technical Breakdown of Shafique The Batsman
His neutral position sees him have a narrow-handed grip of the bat, which allows his wrists more access through a shot, making him a whippy player. He relies on timing the ball rather than muscling it, which helps in producing the gorgeous cover drives and poses we all fantasize over. Shafique also has a high backlift, which will help him develop his power-hitting technique.
Like India’s Shubman Gill, he is a very good player of the short ball, able to pull them along the ground with ease. Shafique’s batting technique has also received praise from Mohammad Hafeez, who approved his “process to score runs.”
However, his feet are quite close together, making him imbalanced at the crease. As a result, he could fall over against incoming balls. He does have a trigger movement, but he is still compromising on balance due to the way his feet are positioned. Because of this, he is susceptible to LBW in instances where he is tied.
A prime example of this instance can be seen in the recently concluded National T20 Cup against Southern Punjab, where he was trapped by an arm ball aimed at the middle stump for LBW by Umer Khan. Trying to play across the line, he offered his front foot up as a result of his imbalance from his neutral position.
Current Pakistan Chief Selector Mohammad Wasim sees Shafique as a “prospective test opener.”, while Shafique sees himself as an all-format player, saying that as long as one’s basics are strong, you can play any format. A strong mental game and being mentally strong is also pertinent for Shafique, like in T20 for instance, where shot selection is very crucial as at the end of the day, the transition is from red ball to white-ball cricket and vice versa. (Grassroots Cricket)
While the tour of New Zealand was far from memorable for Shafique as his maiden overseas tour, he was able to learn how to play bounce and late swing. (Grassroots Cricket)
So why is he in the Weekly Talent Spotlight instead of the tip of everyone’s tongues?
Unfortunately, this is an archetype very prevalent in Pakistan cricket, where evidently gifted players are put on the waiting list to make progress in their career, to make way for other, unpopular archetypes, like the aforementioned “experienced players” archetype. One could say this is equivalent to calling a company’s customer support, being told you are first on the priority list only for having to make an appointment 8 weeks later. It is predictably dismal and the reason for Shafique not getting another PSL gig.
As coincidental as it may be, Shafique has finished #7 on the National T20 Cup runs leaderboard in his first two seasons. Is it an indication that lady luck will indeed shine on Abdullah Shafique at some point in his career?
Nonetheless, welcome to Pakistan Cricket, where the story of this gifted batsman could either age like milk for Pakistan fans or age like fine wine.
With the proper refinement, the raw talent in Shafique can very well be worth its weight in gold, but knowing the history of the PCB’s refineries, the story of this gifted batsman could either age like milk for Pakistan fans or age like fine wine. Or perhaps lady luck will shine down on Shafique after all.