I've Been Working Hard On My Game, Developed My Game: Saud Shakeel

Saud Shakeel, on Friday (October 6), scored a brilliant half-century to bail Pakistan out of trouble and help them start their campaign in ICC World Cup 2023 with a comfortable win over the Netherlands.

Asked to bat first in Hyderabad, the Men in Green made a disastrous start. They lost three wickets including the huge wicket of captain Babar Azam with just 38 runs on the board. However, Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan did not let the Netherlands make further inroads in the game as the duo shared a crucial 120-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Despite his team’s precarious situation, Saud Shakeel batted positively right from the start. In the end, he scored 68 runs off just 52 balls with the help of 9 fours and 1 six. Pakistan went on to score 286 runs before bowling out Netherlands for 205 runs to register a comfortable 81-run win in the end.

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Saud Shakeel opens up on his hard work:

Saud Shakeel was adjudged the Man of the Match for his impressive batting display. Speaking after the game, he opened up on the hard work he has done in recent months to develop his batting. The middle-order batsman admitted that there were some nerves when he walked out to bat but the early boundaries helped him settle down quickly.

“I just try to follow the basics and try to score for the team. I think nerves were there because we lost three wickets. But I got lucky as I got early boundaries. I think in the last 2-3 months, I’ve been working hard on my game. I knew that this was the position in which I was going to bat for Pakistan and I developed my game,” said Saud Shakeel.

“Thanks to the support staff as well for helping me out. Thanks to the crowd as well. I would like to thank my coach as well and I would like to dedicate this award to him,” he added.

Pakistan will be looking to extend their winning start to the World Cup when they lock horns against Sri Lanka in their next game. The match is scheduled to be played against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad.