Abdullah Shafique has been hailed as Pakistan Cricket’s prince, thanks to the textbook precision of his batting and his adaptability across different formats. Numerous former and current Pakistani cricketers, including Babar Azam and Misbah-ul-Haq, have heaped praise on him, with Misbah being the first to recognize Abdullah’s potential and selecting him for the national team.
When Abdullah was first picked, he spent some time on the bench under Misbah, who was the head coach and selector at the time. This came after Abdullah had only played a handful of domestic matches, during which Misbah and then-batting coach Younis Khan worked closely with Abdullah to prepare him for the international stage. Abdullah repaid their faith by scoring twin fifties on his Test debut and recording the third most runs by a debutant without scoring a century.
Traditionally, a Test opener’s primary role is to weather the storm of the new ball, facing the fresh and often challenging conditions of the early overs. After this, most openers look to capitalize and score runs. Pakistan has seen a string of underperforming Test openers since 2010, with Azhar Ali being the last consistent performer in this role and Shan Masood showing flashes of consistency for a brief period.
| Pakistan Test batters in first 10 overs since 2010 (min. 700 balls faced) | |||
| Batter | Balls Faced | Outs | BPD |
| Abdullah Shafique | 781 | 11 | 71.0 |
| Azhar Ali | 1903 | 27 | 70.5 |
| Shan Masood | 1193 | 19 | 62.8 |
| Imam-ul-Haq | 1016 | 17 | 59.8 |
| Mohammad Hafeez | 1499 | 32 | 46.8 |
Abdullah has set a new standard, boasting the best balls-per-dismissal ratio among Pakistani openers who have faced more than 700 balls in the opening 10 overs since 2010.
After neutralizing the new ball, an opener’s job is to leverage their time at the crease to ease the conditions for those who follow and reduce the burden of scoring runs.
Scoring big runs is something Abdullah Shafique excels at, having demonstrated this by recording a double century and another 150+ score in Sri Lanka, both in challenging conditions and high-pressure situations, including crucial fourth-innings chases.
Abdullah Shafique shines brightest on the big stage, as nerves often get the better of players in debut games, but Abdullah has consistently performed under pressure. He has scored a century on his First-Class debut and his T20 debut.
He also made an immediate impact in Test cricket, scoring twin fifties on debut in Bangladesh, totaling 125 runs. Across formats, Abdullah has delivered on his debut, with a fifty in his Asia Cup debut and a century on his ODI World Cup debut.
During last year’s ODI World Cup, a widely discussed statistic was Pakistan’s inability to hit a six in powerplays despite facing 1,000 balls, and Abdullah Shafique, then 24, broke that drought during his first World Cup.
As some might say, he has that “dawg” in him.
In Test cricket, particularly when playing in difficult conditions, players typically improve with experience.
Let’s compare Abdullah’s performance in his first 17 Tests with some all-time greats and top Pakistani openers:
| Top Test openers after 17 Tests | Top Pakistani Test openers after 17 Tests | ||||||
| Runs | Average | 100s | Runs | Average | 100s | ||
| Alastair Cook | 1358 | 42.4 | 5 | Saeed Anwar | 1396 | 46.5 | 3 |
| Sunil Gavaskar | 1467 | 48.9 | 5 | Mudassar Nazar | 859 | 27.7 | 2 |
| Graeme Smith | 1539 | 61.6 | 5 | Mohammad Hafeez | 895 | 28.9 | 1 |
| David Warner | 1159 | 42.9 | 3 | Taufeeq Umar | 1441 | 48.0 | 4 |
| Matthew Hayden | 1120 | 40.0 | 3 | Hanif Mohammad | 864 | 32.0 | 2 |
| Abdullah Shafique | 1330 | 44.3 | 4 | Abdullah Shafique | 1330 | 44.3 | 4 |
Abdullah Shafique’s start to his Test career is among the best for Pakistani greats, with only one of the top five Pakistani openers having matched his number of centuries at this stage, and only two have more runs at a better average.
Among the top five openers in this format, Abdullah has outperformed the two Australians on the list. Even in away conditions, most of which have been in Asia, Abdullah has excelled, as demonstrated by his twin fifties on debut against Bangladesh.
Among Pakistani openers with at least 500 away runs, Abdullah boasts an impressive centuries-per-innings ratio.
| Pakistani Test openers away with 500+ Runs | |||||
| Player | Inns | Runs | Ave | 100s | Centuries Per Innings |
| Saeed Anwar | 47 | 2131 | 46.3 | 7 | 0.15 |
| Abdullah Shafique | 16 | 677 | 45.1 | 2 | 0.13 |
| Azhar Ali | 27 | 995 | 39.8 | 3 | 0.11 |
| Abid Ali | 18 | 826 | 48.6 | 2 | 0.11 |
| Taufeeq Umar | 38 | 1483 | 42.4 | 4 | 0.11 |
Abdullah Shafique has predominantly played his Tests in Asian conditions, which generally favor batting early on. However, in the two Tests he played in Australia, he struggled, averaging below 20 with just one half-century.
His batting woes on that tour could be linked to his poor catching in the slips.
With seven home Tests ahead to regain his confidence, Abdullah should be well-prepared to tackle the challenging conditions in South Africa, where Pakistan is scheduled to play a couple of Tests early next year.
About the Author: Zaid Babar Khan
Data geek, Cricket fanatic, Haris Rauf and Lahore Qalandars fan and an article writer