Asad Shafiq is a Pakistani international cricketer who was born in Karachi on January 28, 1986. Shafiq is a right-handed batsman and a talented young cricketer who was brought into the squad at a tough time.
Background
Shafiq began his cricket career with a domestic team in Karachi. He scored a double hundred in the 2007-08 first-class season, only missing out on a thousand-run total by a few runs.
Shafiq scored 379 runs at 54.14 in the limited overs tournament in 2008-09, putting him in the good graces of the selectors. Shafiq scored 1244 runs in just 12 games in the 2009-10 first-class season, averaging 49.76 runs per game.
Debut
Shafiq got his first international call-up at the age of 24. On June 21, 2010, he made his ODI debut in Dambulla against Bangladesh. He only managed to score 17 runs as his team cruised to a 139-run victory.
In November of that year, he made his Test debut against South Africa. In the only innings he got to play, he piled up 61 runs. He played his first T20 international match against New Zealand the next month.
Rise to Glory
In 2013, Shafiq had his best performance against South Africa. He joined Younis Khan and scored 219 for the fifth wicket when Pakistan was in deep trouble at 33/4. Against an attack that included Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, and Morne Morkel, he scored 111 runs.
The top-order batsman is also remembered for his 46-run knock against Australia in a World Cup match that ended Australia’s record-breaking 34-match winning streak.
Low Points
In his service, Asad Shafiq has failed to retain continuity. Shafiq’s form began to deteriorate in 2012, and he was dropped from the ODI squad after just three fifties in 15 games.
Even in Test cricket, he only managed one fifty in eight games. He was also passed over for the World T20s in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 2012 and 2014, respectively.