PSL 2023: Abdullah Shafique urges critics to judge players' efforts, hard work

ISLAMABAD: Lahore Qalandars batter Abdullah Shafique urged critics to judge a player’s efforts and hard work rather than associating them with a certain format.

In an interview with Geo News, Shafique, who is usually considered a red-ball player, said that the basics of cricket don't change with a format and players just need to make minor adjustments in their game.

“Your basic remains the same, whatever format you’re playing. It is not the right thing to say that a certain player is suitable for only one format. It is important that we see how a player is putting effort and doing his hard work,” he said.

“In T20s, you need to have a better strike rate and I think I am doing that well. I am not doing it to satisfy anyone else, I am doing this for my own’s satisfaction,” said the top-order batter.

The 23-year-old has represented Pakistan in 12 Test matches scoring 992 runs at an average of 47.23. Though he has played three T20Is and one ODI, he did not get a proper run in white-ball cricket for the national team.

In PSL 2023, Shafique has scores of 75, 45, 15 and 48.

“I am satisfied with my performance and happier because my team is winning, we became the first team to qualify for the play-off stage which is a good feeling,” he said.

“Shaheen has been superb as team leader, he keeps everyone gelled together and keeps everyone motivated even if one is not able to perform so that the confidence doesn’t shake,” said Shafique.

Shafique said that he tries to learn new things in every match and every training session and aims to adopt things that will be beneficial for his future. He also mentioned that he has been taking guidance from Fakhar Zaman and Sam Billings.

Replying to a question, Shafique said that everyone has personal goals in every tournament but the important thing is to contribute towards the team’s success.

“I try to play according to my team’s requirement and contribute more and more in the team’s success,” he said.

“We have got the momentum and we will try to carry this into remaining matches as well,” the batter said.

Shafique said that having top bowlers like Shaheen, Haris and Rashid Khan around in the same dressing room is a blessing for him.

“While as a professional you have to be ready to face any bowler but any batter in the world would prefer to avoid facing such bowlers, I am glad that I don’t have to contest against them but I would add that facing them in net sessions prepare me well to face any bowling attack,” Shafique concluded.