<\/p>\n
Abdullah Shafique has a habit of making great first impressions, the latest of which came on Tuesday when he became the first Pakistan batsman to make a century on his World Cup debut in an epic pursuit<\/a> against Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n Called up to replace the out-of-form Fakhar Zaman, the 23-year-old opener clubbed 113 and with a cramping Mohammad Rizwan (131 not out) helped Pakistan reach their 345-run target, the highest<\/a> successful run chase in World Cup history.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way Abdullah built the innings in the beginning, the kind of shots he hit, made it easy for us to chase the score,\u201d said Rizwan.<\/p>\n Shafique has become accustomed to making instant impacts. Shafique is only the second batsman in the world to have hit a hundred on first-class and T20 debut, along with India\u2019s Shivam Bhambri.<\/p>\n His talents for the big stage were spotted early on by former Pakistan player Mansoor Rana, a former Pakistan team manager.<\/p>\n \u201cWe selected him for Under-19s as I saw enormous talent in this boy,\u201d said Rana.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is better than anyone technique-wise but the problem was he didn\u2019t score runs initially,\u201d explained Rana, the son of former international umpire Shakoor.<\/p>\n After his T20 debut hundred, the then-head coach Misbahul Haq selected him in the shortest format but Shafique failed with four successive ducks.<\/p>\n He was backed despite his failures, making him a target for critics who accused him of receiving preferential treatment.<\/p>\n \u201cI noticed that this boy had good technique and temperament. He has a repertoire of shots for every pitch,\u201d said Misbah.<\/p>\n \u201cAt his age, Shafique has superb qualities and that is why I backed him,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Shafique finally came good in Tests, hitting a hundred against<\/a> Australia and England, and two against Sri Lanka including a double<\/a> ton in July this year.<\/p>\n \u201cShafique benefitted from regular chances. During Covid, he worked very hard indoors and that period allowed him to improve,\u201d said Rana.<\/p>\n Barely a month out from the World Cup, Shafique was not even in the squad.<\/p>\n However, with concerns over Zaman\u2019s lack of runs, the Pakistan team management selected him as a backup.<\/p>\n Next up for Shafique, another first \u2014 facing old rivals India in Ahmedabad on Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Abdullah Shafique has a habit of making great first impressions, the latest of which came on Tuesday when he became the first Pakistan batsman to make a century on his World Cup debut in an epic pursuit against Sri Lanka. Called up to replace the out-of-form Fakhar Zaman, the 23-year-old opener clubbed 113 and with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2023\/10\/11145025ae799c3.jpg?r=145046","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\nHe scored a hundred on his domestic Grade-II debut (non-first class), notched another century on his first-class debut in 2019 and a year later achieved the same feat in Twenty20 cricket.<\/p>\n