The purple patch of Saud Shakeel forces Pakistan into another quandary

The world remains wondering how Pakistan manages to bag a houseful each time with the same cliche script. The struggling team every time gets rescued by a savior, who had been around for long enough to avoid allegations of tailor-making him in a clandestine laboratory for the team but on the dimmer part of the stage to make sure no one solves the plot before time. This time the saviour was the perfectly-timed purple patch of Saud Shakeel. 

All equal in the eyes of the scriptwriter

It does not matter if the team boasts players who have been performing for as long as pundits can remember, each one of them has to hail to the script like a ritual when the time comes. Saud Shakeel’s eye-pleasing innings the other day against the Netherlands (and though no one likes to count them his innings against New Zealand in the warm-up match) widened a few too many eyes in awe. Is it now time for curtain calls? Perhaps not. Where the purple patch of Saud answered many questions, it tangled the string, that is Pakistan Cricket, more by giving birth to new questions. 

A purple patch of Saud Shakeel and the potential number five debate

Questions demanding evidence to consider the leftie a good finisher and a potential number five. The southpaw’s career does not have many figures to prove him thereof. The Karachi-born has gone on record to state that he had to improve his power game to fit the very demanding 5th position, which he knew he would be getting during the World Cup. His 68-run knock against the Dutch came off just 52 balls, striking at 130-odd but there was a catch to that. 

The entry point of Pakistani number five batters

The innings couldn’t testify to his skills to tackle the pressure coming in during 30-35 overs and staying to finish the game by accelerating his innings – normally what is considered a finisher’s job. Saud entered at the 9.2 overs mark at 38/3, built the innings, and steered Pakistan to victory by assuming the role he is more popularly known for. However, the odds of him entering the same stage again during the World Cup are slim, at least outside Pakistan’s scriptwriter’s theatrical world. Even slimmer now that Abdullah Shafique has secured his place in the opening position.

On average, since the culmination of the previous World Cup, Pakistan’s number 5 batters have made entry at around the 30-over mark.


The left-hander, however, in only 4 out of 7 of his international appearances (in which he batted), had entered the ground before 30 overs were bowled, shrinking the sample size to gauge him further.

Whatever happened to Salman Ali Agha?

Salman Ali Agha, his predecessor at number five, came to the throne just last year in the men in green’s tour against the Netherlands. Although Salman proved more than impressive at the position and displayed himself as a juicy option because of his off-breaks on top of his batting skills, his game against pace as well as the recency bias epidemic in Pakistan forced him to assume a more important job – warming the benches – in the World cup. Agha has more experience of playing at number 5/6 than Saud does. For instance, in List A, the latter usually strode in to bat at one down. Accredited to his being Pakistan’s consistent number 5/6 for almost a year, Agha has found himself several times on the ground during death overs.


A few stats allow one to compare Shakeel’s 20 at 110 to Salman’s 47 at 106 in matches where each of the batters came after 30 overs had passed. Again, Saud has only been present at such instances thrice, making the sample size too small to draw inferences.

Underprepared team on a voyage to glory

All these technicalities take one back to square one, to comparatively simple things, to the fact that Pakistan only played less than 30 matches after the 2019 ODI World Cup. The 30 matches gave the team fewer chances to test different players against different conditions and positions. Especially in a team like Pakistan, where most of the players are playing their debut World Cup, getting tested in a bilateral series was more important.

Like several other matters with this team, this conundrum remains at the mercy of time for its judgement. Should Saud present himself as a trustworthy number five, capable of acclimatizing to any situation thrown at him, it would be nothing less than striking gold for the men in green. Until then, all eyes remain waiting.


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