Pakistani cricketer
Saud Shakeel (born 5 September 1995) is a Pakistani international cricketer. 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]
Early life and career
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
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
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]
