Asia Cup 2023: Not Babar Azam!! Kamran Akmal Says This Young Pakistan Batter Will Be The Next Virat Kohli

Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal believes Saud Shakeel has the potential to reach the level of batting superstars Virat Kohli and Babar Azam.

Saud Shakeel has hit the ground running in international cricket, especially in Tests. He played an instrumental role in Pakistan’s 2-0 win over Sri Lanka in the recently-concluded Test series. It was Pakistan’s first series win in Tests in nearly a year.

In the first Test of the series, he scored a stunning unbeaten double-century to help his team recover from 101 for 5 to post 461. He followed it up with knocks of 30 and 57 as Pakistan went on to win both Tests to clinch the series and take the top spot in the ICC World Test Championship Points Table.

Kamran Akmal on Saud Shakeel’s future:

Saud Shakeel’s stunning start to his international career has started exciting Pakistani fans and experts. The Pakistan cricketing fraternity is already backing him to have a bright future and Kamran Akmal also believes the same. Heaping praise on the southpaw, the former wicketkeeper-batsman has compared his potential to some of the game’s biggest names like Virat Kohli and Babar Azam.

“I am looking at Saud from a different angle. I am considering him in the league, which includes big names like Virat Kohli, Babar Azam, and other five to six players,” said Kamran Akmal.

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,” he added.

Talking about Saud Shakeel’s career so far, he has played 7 Tests and 5 ODIs. In 13 Test innings so far, he has crossed the 50-run mark eight times while converting two of them into centuries. He currently averages 87.50 in the longest format of the game. As far as ODIs are concerned, the 27-year-old is yet to impress in this format and has managed only 67 runs in 5 games so far.