Asad Shafiq ( ur, ; born 28 January 1986) is a Pakistani

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played for

Pakistan national cricket team The Pakistan national cricket team or Pak cricket team, often referred to as the Shaheens (), Green Shirts, Men in Green and Cornered Tigers is administered by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The team is a Full Member of the International C ...

between 2010 and 2020. As of the 2021/22 season, he plays for

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

in domestic cricket. Shafiq hails from a

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

family. He is fluent in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, while he can speak

partly and understands it. In August 2018, he was one of thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season by the

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Coun ...

(PCB). In September 2019, he was named in

's squad for the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament.

Career

Early career (2007–2010)

Asad Shafiq made his first-class debut at 21 years old for

Karachi Whites Karachi cricket teams competed in the Pakistani first-class cricket tournaments the Patron's Trophy and Quaid-e-Azam Trophy from 1953-54 to 2018-19. Beginning with the 2019-20 season, the city of Karachi has been represented in the Quaid-e-Azam Tr ...

against

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Niaz Stadium The Niaz Stadium is a cricket ground in Hyderabad, Pakistan. The ground has a capacity of 7,000 and hosted its first test match in 1973. It was established in November 1961 by then Commissioner of Hyderabad, Niaz Ahmed, and the stadium is named ...

on 21 October 2007. Although he was only playing because Karachi's Khalid Latif had been called up to play for Pakistan, he managed to score a century in his debut innings, finishing with 113 runs from 183 deliveries. He scored his second century of the season against

Faisalabad Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur ( Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pak ...

, batting for more than eight and a half hours to finish with 223 runs from 350 balls, still his highest score in a first-class match. He played all ten matches of the

2007–08 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy The 2007–08 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was one of two first-class domestic cricket competitions that were held in Pakistan during the 2007–08 season. It was the 50th edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, contested by 22 teams representing regional c ...

for Karachi Whites, and finished as their leading run-scorer with 745 runs at an average of 49.66. Shafiq was less successful in his second season of first-class cricket. He did score a century against

Khan Research Laboratories The Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories, ( ur, ) or KRL for short, is a federally funded, multi-program national research institute and national laboratory site primarily dedicated to uranium enrichment, supercomputing and fluid mechanics. It ...

, but it was his only of the season and he only averaged 23.46 in the

2008–09 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy The 2008–09 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was one of two first-class domestic cricket competitions that were held in Pakistan during the 2008–09 season. It was the 51st edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, contested by 22 teams representing regional c ...

. His major successes of the season came in

one-day cricket Limited overs cricket, also known as one-day cricket or white ball cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed in one day. There are a number of formats, including List A cricket (8-hour games), Twenty ...

. He scored 360 runs at an average of 72.00 in the 2008–09 Royal Bank of Scotland Cup, including two centuries, and finished with an average of 54.14 in all one-day matches for the season. Shafiq switched teams to the

Karachi Blues Karachi cricket teams competed in the Pakistani first-class cricket tournaments the Patron's Trophy and Quaid-e-Azam Trophy from 1953-54 to 2018-19. Beginning with the 2019-20 season, the city of Karachi has been represented in the Quaid-e-Azam T ...

for the

2009–10 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy The 2009–10 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was one of two first-class domestic cricket competitions that were held in Pakistan during the 2009–10 season. It was the 52nd edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, contested by 22 teams representing regional c ...

and scored 1,000 runs in a season for the first time. In eleven Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches he scored 1,104 runs at an average of 64.94, including four centuries and four half-centuries. As a reward for his stellar form, he was selected to play for

Pakistan A The Pakistan A cricket team, or Pakistan Shaheens, is a national cricket team representing Pakistan. It is the second-tier of international Pakistan cricket, below the full Pakistan national cricket team. Matches played by Pakistan A are not cons ...

in a series of one-day matches against England Lions.

First international appearances (2010)

Shafiq made it into the national team for the first time in the 2010 Asia Cup when he was selected as part of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

's 15-man squad for the tournament. He joined the team at a turbulent stage for the side, as several players had recently been given bans by the

for behavioural issues. Shafiq made his ODI debut in a dead rubber match against

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

at the

Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium ( si, රංගිරි දඹුලු ජාත්‍යන්තර ක්‍රීඩාංගනය, ta, தம்புள்ள சர்வதேச கிரிக்கெட் விள ...

. He scored 17 runs from 19 balls before being stumped by

Mushfiqur Rahim Mushfiqur Rahim ( bn, মুশফিকুর রহিম; born 9 May 1987) is a Bangladeshi cricketer and the former captain and vice-captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team. He is a right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keepe ...

off the bowling of

Shakib Al Hasan Shakib Al Hasan (Bengali: সাকিব আল হাসান; born 24 March 1987) is a Bangladeshi cricketer and current captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team in Tests and T20Is. He plays for Barishal in domestic cricket as an all- ...

. Despite having been the top run-scorer in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and one of only two players to score more than 1,000 runs in the 2009–10 season, Shafiq was overlooked by national selectors for Pakistan's Test squad to face

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Shafiq's lack of selection, as well as a number of other Karachi players being overlooked, caused the

Karachi City Cricket Association Karachi City Cricket Association administers cricket in Karachi. International efforts In 2012, KCCA made efforts to bring international cricket in Pakistan by arranging a match between Pakistan and World XI cricket team but PCB has set to del ...

to condemn the national selectors for allegedly deliberately ignoring Karachi-based players. Instead, Shafiq was selected to play for Pakistan A on a tour of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Shafiq was named as a reserve player for Pakistan's later ODI series against England, but he stayed in Sri Lanka with the A team, where he scored a run-a-ball century in a one-day match against Sri Lanka A. Due to a spot-fixing scandal involving several Pakistani players, Shafiq was flown to England as a replacement player 48 hours before the first ODI, In the first ODI he scored a quickfire 19 runs from 10 deliveries, including 4 boundaries against English bowler

Tim Bresnan Timothy Thomas Bresnan (born 28 February 1985) is an English former first-class cricketer, who last played for Warwickshire. He was a fast-medium bowler who had ability with the bat. Bresnan won the NBC Denis Compton Award in 2002 and 2003. I ...

, and he followed it up in the 2nd ODI with his maiden ODI half-century, 50 runs off of 58 deliveries. He played out the rest of the 5-match series to finish with 120 runs at an average of 24. Ahead of a series of matches against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

, Shafiq both kept his place in Pakistan's ODI squad and earned his first selection in their Test squad. Shafiq opened the batting in the first two matches, but after only scoring 19 and 1 he was moved back down the order to bat at number 4, where he scored 43 and 36. For the final match of the ODI series he was replaced by

Mohammad Yousuf Mohammad Yusuf, Muhammad Yousuf and other spellings, may refer to: Politicians * Mohammad Yusuf (politician), prime minister and foreign minister of Afghanistan * Mohammad Yousef, a governor of Daykundi of Province, Afghanistan * Muhammad Yusuf ...

, who had only arrived in the UAE the day before the match. Shafiq did not play in the first match of the Test series, but after

Umar Akmal Umar Akmal (Urdu, pa, ; born 26 May 1990) is a Pakistani cricketer who played for Pakistan national cricket team between 2009 and 2019. He was banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board for eighteen months for not disclosing offers related to spot ...

was dismissed playing a rash shot in the first match, Shafiq took his place in the side for the second Test. Shafiq made his

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

debut on 20 November 2010 against

Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium The Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium ( ar, ملعب زايد للكريكت) is a cricket ground located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The stadium cost $23 million to build and was opened in May 2004, with its inaugural first-class match bein ...

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

. He had his first opportunity to bat on Day 3 of the Test match, coming in after two wickets had fallen in an over. Shafiq navigated a tricky period of play, particularly playing well against spin bowling, and scored a half-century. He had a 105-run partnership with

Misbah-ul-Haq ; born 28 May 1974) is a former Pakistani cricket coach and former international cricketer. Misbah captained Pakistan in all formats and is former head coach and former chief selector of the Pakistan national team. A late bloomer, Misbah was a midd ...

and scored 61 runs from 118 balls.

2010–present

Shafiq was called into Pakistan's squad for a Twenty20 series in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

after fast bowler

Sohail Tanvir Sohail Tanvir ( ur, ; born 12 December 1984) is a Pakistani cricketer, who has gained considerable international repute for his unorthodox left arm bowling action and particularly for the success it has gained him in the Twenty20 format of the ...

was pulled out due to a knee injury. He made his

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

debut against New Zealand at

Seddon Park Seddon Park is a cricket ground in Hamilton, New Zealand. It is the fourth-largest cricket ground in the country, and is renowned for its "village green" setting, affording a picnic atmosphere for spectators. History Seddon Park was named aft ...

on 28 December 2010. In the two matches he played, Shafiq only scored 6 and 8, both times scoring at less than a run every ball. Shafiq was also part of Pakistan's squad for their Test series in New Zealand. In the first Test, when Pakistan were in trouble at 4/107, Shafiq fought back with Misbah-ul-Haq, the two of them reaching the end of the second day with an unbeaten 128-run partnership. The partnership totaled 149 runs and Shafiq scored 83 runs from 202 balls. Pakistan won the match by 10 wickets, so Shafiq was not required to bat again. In the second Test, Shafiq was dismissed for a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

in the first innings and took 23 balls to get off the mark in the second innings before hitting a six off of Daniel Vettori's bowling. He scored 24 runs and Pakistan played out a draw to win the series 1–0, Pakistan's first Test series win since 2006–07 and their first outside of Asia since 2003–04. Shafiq was included in Pakistan's 15-man squad for the

2011 Cricket World Cup The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka, and for the first time in Bangladesh. India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, thus ...

, but he did not play in Pakistan's first four matches of the tournament. He was brought into the team for Pakistan's match against

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

after Umar Akmal suffered a finger injury, After Pakistan had a shaky start, Shafiq took control of their run chase and scored an unbeaten 78 runs to give Pakistan an easy victory, guaranteeing them a place in the quarter-finals. He then scored a composed 46 in Pakistan's successful run chase against defending World Champions

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in a match that became Australia's first loss in a World Cup since 1999. Shafiq was not required to bat in Pakistan's 10-wicket quarter-final win over the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, and he played in Pakistan's semi-final against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, but Pakistan lost the match and didn't progress to the World Cup final. Shafiq scored his first Test

century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

in the opening Test of Pakistan's two-match series against

in December 2011. He scored 104 runs in Pakistan's first innings. He played in all three Tests of Pakistan's series against England in the

in early 2012, scoring 167 runs at an average of 33.40 as Pakistan won the series 3–0. In March 2019, he was named as the captain of

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

's squad for the

2019 Pakistan Cup The 2019 Pakistan Cup was the fourth edition of the Pakistan Cup, a List A cricket competition which was contested between five teams. It was held from 2 to 12 April 2019, with all the matches played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The Pakis ...

. In June 2020, he was named in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's tour to England during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In July, he was shortlisted in Pakistan's 20-man squad for the Test matches against England. In July 2021, Asad Shafiq lost his central contract after failing to maintain his spot in the national team.

List of international centuries

Shafiq has scored 12

centuries A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

(100 or more runs in a single

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

) in

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

. He has not scored a century in a

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

(ODI) match nor a

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

International (T20I) match.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shafiq, Asad 1986 births Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers Living people Pakistani people of Gujarati descent Pakistan Test cricketers Cricketers at the 2011 Cricket World Cup Pakistani cricketers Cricketers from Karachi Karachi Blues cricketers Karachi Whites cricketers Karachi Dolphins cricketers Karachi Zebras cricketers Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cricketers Sindh cricketers Habib Bank Limited cricketers Pakistan International Airlines cricketers Quetta Gladiators cricketers Multan Sultans cricketers Wicket-keepers