Abdullah Shafique had a memorable World Cup 2023 debut as he scored a match-winning century against Sri Lanka as Pakistan went two in two in this tournament, and now have good confidence ahead of their mega-clash against India.
23-year-old Abdullah Shafique had played in only 8 List-A matches before Tuesday when he was asked to replace senior opener Fakhar Zaman in the XI against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad.
In the face of a massive target of 345 runs, the young right-handed opener didn’t flinch at all – even as he lost Imam-ul-Haq and skipper Babar Azam at the other end. Playing traditional and classy cricket shots, Abdullah Shafique went on to notch his maiden ODI, and List-A, century, scoring 113 runs in 103 balls with the help of 10 fours and 3 sixes.
Pakistan couldn’t have hoped for a better time for Shafique to come good as they had dropped the out-of-form opener Fakhar Zaman, and with this time they recorded the highest-ever successful run-chase in World Cup history.
Watch: Abdullah Shafique does a Shubman Gill-like celebration
Abdullah Shafique reached his century in the 32nd over of Pakistan’s innings with a pull-shot boundary to pacer Dilshan Madushanka. He first raised both his hands toward the dressing room and then bowed down, a celebration that reminded fans of India opener Shubman Gill’s celebration. Gill has made his bowing-down celebration famous in the past couple of years and Shafique did a very similar celebration.
Check out the video here:
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The other centurion for Pakistan, and the Man of the Match, was Mohammad Rizwan. Rizwan and Shafique formed a partnership of 176 (156), which put Pakistan in firm control of the chase, and then a partnership of 95 (68) between Rizwan and Shakeel all but sealed the game.
Speaking about his knock, Rizwan said: “Always a proud moment for me whenever you perform for your country. I am speechless at this moment. It was difficult. The thing was that after the bowling innings we went back and everyone was confident. Unluckily, they got Babar Azam early but we got good partnerships after that. It’s a good track, was supporting to us. I told Shafique to take it step by step.”
Pakistan’s next game is against India in Ahmedabad on Saturday.
