Profile of Ahmed Shehzad

PROFILE

Ahmad Shehzad is one among the many Pakistani openers known for their free stroking abilities and aggressive batting techniques. His introduction to competitive cricket came at the early age of 15 when he made his first class debut. He went on to be a regular opener for his side Lahore and also got a chance to play for the Pakistani national Under 19 side, where he enjoyed tremendous success. With strong performances in domestic cricket, a national call up was only a matter of time as Pakistani side struggled to find stable openers. Shehzad found himself making his debut against Australia in April 2009, but he was in and out of the team for lack of consistency. Despite not having a great start, Shehzad was picked in the squad for the 2009 World T20 Championships, but he got only one game.

For the next one year, he remained in the sidelines as Pakistan continued their search for a stable opener. His big break came in New Zealand in 2010, where he made his first T20 international half century. The knock helped him gain a spot in the ODI leg of the tour, and this time he grabbed it with both hands as he scored an aggressive 115 to bring up his maiden ODI century. The good show earned him a place in the squad for the World Cup, but Shehzad failed to impress. He managed to retain his spot for the West Indies tour that followed, and even brought up his 2nd ODI century there, but was left out of the squad for the tour of Zimbabwe.

He played well in the ODI series against South Africa in late 2013 by scoring consecutive fifties in the UAE, but was not able to convert good starts into a big one. When Pakistan toured South Africa immediately after that, Shehzad hit a brilliant 102 at Port Elizabeth. His strong performance continued even against Sri Lanka scoring another century and a fifty in the 5-match series. Shehzad played an integral part in giving good starts to Pakistan in the 2013 Asia Cup but unfortunately failed to make a mark in the final against Sri Lanka. Shehzad also scored a hundred against Bangladesh in the 2014 T20 WC, but Pakistan were knocked out in the group stages.

Interesting Stat: Shehzad became the only Pakistani player to score a hundred in all three forms of the game, when he scored an unbeaten 111 against Bangladesh in the T20 WC.

Source: By Cricbuzz Staff

As of April 2014