Not just Babar Azam, but the entire cricket fraternity is impressed with Abdullah Shafique’s batting masterclass after the conclusion of the 1st Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Galle. Riding on Abdullah’s blistering century, Babar & Co. registered a memorable win over the Dimuth Karunaratne-led Sri Lanka side at the Galle International Stadium on Wednesday. Pakistan’s Shafique earned plaudits from several luminaries of the game following his marathon knock that paved the way for the visitors to register a 4-wicket win over the Islanders.
Taking to Twitter after Pakistan’s historic win over Sri Lanka, former cricketer Shahid Afridi hailed opener Shafique for his batting masterclass. “An incredible Test match, Abdullah’s epic would be remembered for ever! This is an innings that would make Abdullah a bigger star, congratulations to the entire team and management for a wonderful performance. Sri Lanka also deserve credit for a great fight,” Afridi tweeted.
Afridi’s former teammate and legendary pacer Shoaib Akhtar also saluted the batting brilliance of the Pakistani opener on the microblogging site. “Memorable win in Galle. @imabd28 kya baat hai yar. What an inning full of grit, determination & never say die attitude,” the Rawalpindi Express said in his tweet. Congratulating the Pakistani side for taking a 1-0 lead over the Islanders, Pakistani Cricket Board (PCB) president Ramiz Raja opined that the Babar-led side had to overcome a ‘statistical Everest’ to silence their critics.
“This #teamPakistan had to overcome a statistical Everest to prove the world wrong at Galle and they did !! Great run chase. Congrats @babarazam258. And Pakistan may have found the next batting superstar in Abdullah Shafique @imabd28. So calm and organised and classy,” the 1992 World Cup winner tweeted.
Pakistan chased down the 342-run target to record the highest successful chase by any team in Galle. Shafique played an unbeaten knock of 160 off 408 balls against Sri Lanka. The Pakistani opener batted for 524 minutes which is also the longest by a batter during a successful run-chase in the history of Test cricket. The premier batter is also the fifth player to face 400-plus delivers in the fourth innings of a Test.
