Saud Shakeel (born 5 September 1995) is a Pakistani international cricketer who is the current vice-captain of the Pakistan cricket team in test cricket. He made his international and ODI debut for the Pakistan cricket team in July 2021.[1][2] He made his Test debut against England in December 2022.[3] He played at the 2014 U-19 World Cup, where he captained the team.[4] In July 2023, he became the first Pakistani batsman to score a Test double century in Sri Lanka against the hosts.[5]

Saud Shakeel
Shakeel playing for Yorkshire (2023)
Personal information
Born (1995-09-05) 5 September 1995 (age 29)
Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
NicknameChota Don
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingLeft-arm slow
RoleMiddle-order batsman
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 250)1 December 2022 v England
Last Test21 August 2024 v Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 231)8 July 2021 v England
Last ODI11 November 2023 v England
ODI shirt no.59
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2015–2016Karachi Whites
2017/18Pakistan Television
2018–2019, 2023Quetta Gladiators
2019–2023Sindh
2023Yorkshire
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 15 15 74 87
Runs scored 1406 317 5,628 2,750
Batting average 56.24 28.81 53.09 42.96
100s/50s 4/7 0/3 18/41 4/22
Top score 208* 68 208* 134*
Balls bowled 12 47 1,960 1,289
Wickets 0 1 23 27
Bowling average 37.00 49.65 43.40
5 wickets in innings 0 0 0
10 wickets in match 0 0 0
Best bowling 1/14 2/7 3/23
Catches/stumpings 10/– 5/– 41/– 28/–
Source: Cricinfo, 20 August 2024

Early life and career

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Saud Shakeel was born in September 1995 in Karachi and spent much of his early life in the Sagheer Centre of the Federal B. Area.[6]

In 2007, Saud came to the attention of Azam Khan, then manager of Quetta Gladiators and unrelated to Moin Khan's son.[6] Through a connection with Saud's uncle, Azam introduced him, then a sixth-grade student at The Crescent Academy, to several cricket academies.[6] After a tepid response from these academies, Azam integrated Saud into practice sessions where he faced players such as Rumman Raees, Anwar Ali, and Tabish Khan.[6] This led to Saud's association with the Pakistan Cricket Club and mentorship from international cricketers such as Sarfaraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq.[6]

Domestic career

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He made his first-class debut on 26 October 2015 in the 2015–16 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.[7] In November 2017, he was selected to play for the Quetta Gladiators in 2018 Pakistan Super League players draft.[8]

He was the leading run-scorer for Pakistan Television in the 2017–18 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, with 488 runs in seven matches.[9] In April 2018, he was named in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's squad for the 2018 Pakistan Cup.[10][11] He was the leading run-scorer for Pakistan Television in the 2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, with 414 runs in five matches.[12]

In December 2018, he was named in Pakistan's team for the 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup.[13] In March 2019, he was named in Federal Areas' squad for the 2019 Pakistan Cup.[14][15] In September 2019, he was named in Sindh's squad for the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament.[16][17] In November 2019, he was named as the captain of Pakistan's squad for the 2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Bangladesh.[18] In December 2020, he was shortlisted as one of the Domestic Cricketers of the Year for the 2020 PCB Awards.[19]

International career

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In January 2021, he was named in Pakistan's Test squad for their series against South Africa.[20][21] In March 2021, he was named in Pakistan's Test and limited overs squads for their tours to South Africa and Zimbabwe.[22][23] However, he was ruled out of the One Day International (ODI) matches against South Africa due to an injury.[24]

In June 2021, Shakeel was named in Pakistan's Test and ODI squads,[25] for their tours of the West Indies and England respectively.[26] Shakeel made his ODI debut on 8 July 2021, for Pakistan against England.[27] In October 2021, he was named as the captain of the Pakistan Shaheens for their tour of Sri Lanka.[28]

In November 2021, he was named in Pakistan's Test squad for their series against Bangladesh.[29] In February 2022, he was also named in Pakistan's Test squad for their series against Australia.[30] In June 2022, he was named in Pakistan's Test squad for their two-match series in Sri Lanka.[31]

In December 2022, he was selected to play for Pakistan in the Test series against New Zealand.[32] In the second Test, on 4 January 2023, he hit his maiden century in Test cricket,[33] which helped Pakistan to put 400+ runs in the board in reply to New Zealand's 449 in the first innings.[34]

In September 2023, he was named in Pakistan’s fifteen-man squad for the Cricket World Cup 2023 in India, He made his World Cup debut on 6 October 2023 against the Netherlands in which he scored 68 runs in 52 balls, and received man of the match award.[35] He also played a cameo against Sri Lanka in his second match of the World Cup scoring 31 runs off 30 balls.[36] He scored his second fifty of the tournament against South Africa in a losing cause on 27 October as the latter pipped them by just 1 wicket.[37]

References

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  1. ^ "Saud Shakeel". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  2. ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  3. ^ "Pakistan v England at Rawalpindi, Dec 1-5 2022". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Underappreciated, undermined: Five performers that went unnoticed in the Pakistan Cup". The Express Tribune. 14 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Records made by Saud Shakeel during double ton in Galle Test". Cricket Pakistan. Karachi: Express Media Group. 18 July 2023. Archived from the original on 18 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e Suhayb, Muhammad (21 August 2023). "Saud Shakeel: The Next Big Thing in Pakistan Cricket". Youlin Magazine.
  7. ^ "Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pool B: Karachi Whites v Water and Power Development Authority at Karachi, Oct 26-29, 2015". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
  8. ^ "How the PSL squads stack up". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  9. ^ "Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, 2017/18: Pakistan Television Batting and bowling averages". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  10. ^ "Pakistan Cup one-day tournament to begin in Faisalabad next week". Geo TV. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  11. ^ "Pakistan Cup Cricket from 25th". The News International. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  12. ^ "Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, 2018/19: Pakistan Television Batting and bowling averages". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  13. ^ "Pakistan squad announced for Emerging Asia Cup 2018 to Co-Host by Pakistan and Sri Lanka". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  14. ^ "Federal Areas aim to complete hat-trick of Pakistan Cup titles". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  15. ^ "Pakistan Cup one-day cricket from April 2". The International News. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  16. ^ "PCB announces squads for 2019–20 domestic season". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  17. ^ "Sarfaraz Ahmed and Babar Azam to take charge of Pakistan domestic sides". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  18. ^ "Saud Shakeel named Pakistan captain for ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2019". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  19. ^ "Short-lists for PCB Awards 2020 announced". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  20. ^ "Shan Masood, Mohammad Abbas, Haris Sohail dropped from Pakistan Test squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  21. ^ "Nine uncapped players in 20-member side for South Africa Tests". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  22. ^ "Pakistan squads for South Africa and Zimbabwe announced". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  23. ^ "Sharjeel Khan returns to Pakistan T20I side for tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  24. ^ "Injured Saud Shakeel ruled out of ODI series in South Africa". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  25. ^ "Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah return to Pakistan Test squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  26. ^ "Pakistan name squads for England and West Indies tours". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  27. ^ "1st ODI (D/N), Cardiff, Jul 8 2021, Pakistan tour of England". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  28. ^ "Pakistan Shaheens for Sri Lanka tour named". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  29. ^ "Pakistan squad for Bangladesh Tests named". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  30. ^ "Pakistan call up Haris Rauf for Tests against Australia; Shan Masood recalled". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  31. ^ "Yasir Shah returns for Sri Lanka Tests". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  32. ^ "Pakistan recall Hasan Ali for New Zealand Tests, Shaheen still out". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  33. ^ "Local star Saud Shakeel strokes maiden century but New Zealand strike back with late wickets". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  34. ^ "Saud Shakeel's maiden Test ton forges strong Pakistan reply". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  35. ^ "A look at Saud Shakeel's classy knock in Pakistan vs Netherlands clash". Daily Pakistan. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  36. ^ "Cricket scorecard - Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, 8th Match, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  37. ^ "Cricket scorecard - Pakistan vs South Africa, 26th Match, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
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