Renowned Indian commentator and presenter Harsha Bhogle praised Pakistan’s right-handed opener, Abdullah Shafique, saying that he could not believe that people could argue about his inclusion in the team.
Abdullah, 23, became Pakistan’s light in the dark during the time when their left-handed opener, Fakhar Zaman, was underperforming and had to be replaced by him.
Abdullah came in and scored a match-winning hundred in the second World Cup match against Sri Lanka, playing his part in the historic run chase.
Bhogle believes that there should be no debate on whether Abdullah should be in the team or not.
“I cannot even imagine that there could be a debate on whether Abdullah Shafique makes the Pakistan ODI team. Cut from a different cloth,” Bhogle wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan also lauded Abdullah for his proper technique and declared him the next big thing for Pakistan.
“Abdullah shafique is a next big thing for team Pakistan. He is got proper technique to survive at this level. #PAKvsAFG,” Pathan wrote on X.
By the time this story was filed, Pakistan was batting at 110-2 in 23 overs with Babar Azam (33*) and Mohammad Rizwan (08) still on the crease.
Earlier, Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the toss and opted to bat first in the Cricket World Cup match against Afghanistan in Chennai.
Pakistan have two wins and as many defeats from four games.
Afghanistan, who have just one win from four matches, named left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad in place of fast bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi.
The two sides met each other seven times in ODIs with Pakistan emerging winners in all the matches. Pakistan and Afghanistan faced one another in the 2019 World Cup where Imad Wasim guided his side to a famous victory.
Teams:
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wkt), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Shahen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil (wkt), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Noor Ahmad