During the second day of the ongoing Test match between Pakistan and Australia in Perth, Australian batting legend Simon Katich lavished praise on Men in Green's young opener, Abdullah Shafique. While making a bold bold claim Katich highlighted Shafique's potential, suggesting he could surpass the skills of batting maestro Babar Azam.
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Australia, led by Pat Cummins, set an impressive score of 487 runs after electing to bat first at the Optus Stadium. In reply, Pakistan's openers, Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq, put up a strong front, building a significant 74-run partnership for the first wicket.
While commentating on the match, Simon Katich underlined Shafique's assertive batting style, particularly against spin bowling, as seen in his confrontation with Nathan Lyon. Katich believes that Shafique possesses the talent and potential to outshine Babar in the future.
“He’s a good young player, he’s had a good start to his Test career. What I like about him the most is that he’s aggressive against spin. We have already seen him today hit Nathan Lyon straight over his head, so I like the look of him. I think he’s going to be a better player than Babar Azam,” Katich said during commentary.
Talking about the match, Shafique had a narrow escape in the 35th over. As he defended a delivery, Marnus Labuschagne at short leg quickly relayed the ball back to the wicketkeeper while Shafique briefly stepped out of his crease. Fortunately for Shafique, he was back within the crease before the bails were removed. However, his time at the crease didn't last much longer. Nathan Lyon managed to dismiss him in the following over. Shafique scored 42 runs from 121 balls, ending Pakistan's opening partnership at 74/1 and giving Australia their first wicket of the innings. However, undeterred by Shafique's early loss, captain Shan Masood took up the baton and formed another 49-run partnership with Imam before perishing for 30 to leave Pakistan stranded at 132/2 at the close of Day 2.
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