Considering Saud Shakeel in the league of Virat Kohli, Babar Azam: Kamran Akmal
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has been highly impressed with the way left-hander Saud Shakeel has begun his international career. In just seven Tests, Shakeel has scored a staggering 875 runs for Pakistan at a mind-boggling average of 87.5.
Although he has played just five ODIs, such performances have helped Shakeel find a place in Pakistan's ODI squad for the Bangladesh series as well as the Asia Cup. Akmal is fully expecting the southpaw to reach the same level of consistency as star batters Virat Kohli and Babar Azam in the coming years.
Speaking to Cricket Pakistan, here's what Kamran Akmal had to say about Saud Shakeel:
"I am considering him in the league, which includes big names like Virat Kohli, Babar Azam, and other five to six players. He[Saud] should be reaching near these players in the next three to four years - given the performance he has showcased, particularly when the circumstances were difficult. So, this is a good sign for Pakistan cricket when any batsman displays excellent batting performance, that too at an early age in early Test cricket."
Kamran Akmal wants Faheem Ashraf to perform like Hardik Pandya
Seam-bowling all-rounder Faheem Ashraf has found a place in Pakistan's ODI squad and this decision did raise quite a few eyebrows because of his inconsistency. However, chief selector Inzaman-ul-Haq explained the importance of having a seam-bowling all-rounder like Ashraf in the mix.
In a video on his YouTube Channel, Kamran Akmal gave the example of Hardik Pandya and feels Ashraf needs to match the performance levels of the Indian all-rounder. On this, Akmal stated:
"The Indian white-ball team is never complete without Hardik Pandya. He is there every time an Indian team is announced in white-ball cricket. You look at his record, he has won matches for his team with both, bat and ball. It is time Faheem Ashraf also starts to perform like him. It has been so long now, he has to show some maturity. I want Faheem Ashraf to be a surety in Pakistan’s white-ball team whenever it’s announced yet."
It will be interesting to see if Saud Shakeel can pip the likes of Iftikhar Ahmed to the No.5 spot in Pakistan's ODI line-up and whether Faheem Ashraf can repay the trust shown in him by the management.