10 facts about Asad Shafiq: The talented Pakistani batsman

Asad Shafiq is generally one of the more muted players in the Pakistan dressing room. Introverted he might be, the right-hander he has silently absorbed a lot of skills in becoming the most technically accomplished player in the side. He emerged in 2009 when he was the top scorer at the domestic circuit at the time when Pakistan underwent ugly debacles in the 2009 Australia tour, followed by the 2010 spot-fixing saga in England. He was bought in the team for the same reason as Misbah-ul-Haq assumed the captaincy – to find calm within the storm.

1. Birth:

Asad Shafiq was born on 28th January 1986 in Karachi, Pakistan. He belongs to the Gujjar tribe in the Sindh province in Pakistan. His career growth and development was not centred upon junior development, as in so many modern day cricketers, but he only emerged only after playing First-class cricket.

2. Tape-ball cricket:

Like every other boy from Karachi, Shafiq used to play tape-ball cricket out in the streets which only increased his love for the game with time. He started taking a serious interest in the game when he went for trials at a cricket academy in Karachi.

3. A challenge from his father:

Noticing his deep interest in cricket, Shafiq’s father set him a target of 75% marks to achieve in Matric exams. If he had failed his father would not have let him continue playing. But Shafiq escaped this scare by managing 78% marks and has never looked back.

4. Favorite Cricketers:

Before he started playing First-class cricket Shafiq was a big fan of Rahul Dravid. Whenever the Indian legend came out in the middle Shafiq used to be transfixed to the screen until he (Dravid) got out. When Mohammad Yousuf became of the highest run-getter in a calendar year in 2006, Shafiq was inspired to emulate him too. Among the Pakistani batsmen Yousuf is his favourite.

5. First-class debut:

In 2007, when Shafiq made his debut for Karachi against Hyderabad at Niaz stadium, he did not get to bat in the first innings and was disappointed. But his teammate Khalid Latif was called up for the national side during the game and it gave Shafiq a chance to open in the second innings. He went on to score a century which cemented his place in the Karachi team.

6. International Debut:

Shafiq made his International debut against Bangladesh in the 2010 Asia Cup at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium he scored 17 runs from 19 balls and was stumped by Mushfiqur Rahim in what was a dead rubber as neither side could progress to the final.

7. Maiden fifty in ODI cricket:

Shafiq was next selected when three Pakistani players were involved in Spot-fixing allegations. The three players were Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif and test captain Salman Butt. Shafiq was selected alongside fast bowler fast-bowler Mohammad Irfan. He got his maiden fifty in ODI cricket against England on 12 September 2010.

8. A funny incident with Mohammad Irfan:

When Mohammad Irfan was new in the Pakistan team, he did not speak much English. During a flight he asked Shafiq to translate every time the air hostess spoke to the two. Shafiq eventually got tired of this and asked the pacer to say ‘no’ to whatever the air hostess said and went off to sleep. After an hour Irfan woke him up telling him that he was starving and the air hostess did not give him any food. The excessive use of ‘no’ had deprived the tall fast bowler of his meal.

9. Test Stats:

Shafiq has played 41 Tests and scored 2597 runs at an average of 43.28 including 8 tons and 13 fifties. His top score is 137 against New Zealand 2014 in Sharjah, UAE in a losing cause for Pakistan. He has established himself as a solid number 6 batsman however with Misbah and Younis Khan both in the twilight of their glittering careers, Shafiq is sure to earn a promotion up the order in near future.

10. Limited overs Stats:

Shafiq has played 58 ODI scoring 1318 runs at an average of 25.34 including 9 fifties. His best was an unbeaten 84 against Ireland in Dublin in a dramatic match in 2013 that ended in a tie after a revised target for Pakistan on account of rain. Shafiq has played 10 T20Is scoring 192 runs with a best of 38 against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2011 in a winning cause for Pakistan.