Abdullah Shafique‘s incredible century in Pakistan’s record run-chase against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad might just be the start of something very special, writes Naman Agarwal, who was at the venue.

A 23-year-old Pakistani making his World Cup debut in India in front of 25,000 people – in terms of enormity of stakes, this would be somewhere right at the top. But it wasn’t enormous enough to faze Abdullah Shafique, who, in a near-flawless display of batting, conquered the occasion at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad and announced his arrival in style.

It was apparent that Pakistan were going to pull the plug on Fakhar Zaman sooner or later. That they would do so one match into the World Cup was a move few saw coming, especially after their players and coaches had thrown their weight behind the left-handed opener after their victory over Netherlands. Yet, they did, and it might just have given a future superstar the exposure that befits his talent.

Shafique had been hot on the heels of Fakhar’s opening spot. Having already established his Test credentials, Shafique had been making a mark in white-ball cricket, slowly making his way into the Pakistan white-ball setup.

Although he first found himself in the Pakistan ODI squad three years back in 2020, it was only in August last year that Shafique made his ODI debut against the Netherlands. When he was named in Pakistan’s preliminary World Cup squad, he had only three ODIs under his belt. Among other things, it showed the sort of faith the Pakistan think tank had in his ability. It needed only one game to repay that faith and some.

Shafique put on a masterclass of batting on the flat Hyderabad surface. It is not often that you see Pakistan cruise through a massive run-chase in ODIs. That they did so on this occasion, registering only their second successful 340-plus run-chase in ODI history, was thanks largely to Shafique’s solidity at one end.

Even as two early wickets fell around him, including that of the lynchpin Babar Azam, Shafique kept his calm and never let the pressure of the scoreboard get to him. The hallmark of his innings was his running between the wickets. 55 of his 113 runs – nearly half – came in singles and doubles.

In between, Shafique displayed his range. He particularly peppered the leg side against the seamers. Anything short was either pulled or swatted away between square leg and mid-wicket. Against spin, Shafique showed his class and used the crease expertly, not missing any opportunity to come down the track and loft Sri Lanka’s spinners.

Reaching his 50 off 58 balls in the 19th over of the chase, Shafique upped the ante. His next 50 came in 39 balls. The shot to reach his hundred was his most productive one for the night – the pull. Naturally, he let out a roar and bowed to soak in the applause from the crowd. However, the swiftness with which he got back into his zone and resumed his innings as if the job was only half-done, which it was, showed maturity beyond the years.

When he was finally dismissed, Pakistan’s score read 213-3 from 33.1 overs. He had laid a platform for the middle order to finish the chase, which they eventually did.

Batting talents have always been in abundance in Pakistan. Shafique had already shown at the Test level that he was another – after six Tests, his batting average read 80 – but this knock at the biggest of stages was his graduation to the next level.

Pakistan, now, have every reason to believe that they are looking at an all-format superstar for the future. And even if they don’t want to look that far ahead, the next five weeks would be a good enough timeline.

On current form and confidence, Shafique is a much safer bet for Pakistan compared to Fakhar going ahead in the World Cup. He looks assured at the crease and knows where his runs will come from, both attributes that Fakhar is currently lacking in.

If the crowd during Shafique’s first World Cup game in Hyderabad was big, the one during his second in Ahmedabad on the 14th of October will be bigger, by a factor of five. If the stakes in Hyderabad were high, those in Ahmedabad will be higher, beyond measure. Having already made the right start, Shafique has now an opportunity to make the World Cup his own.

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