5 most underappreciated batsmen in the sport

Asad Shafiq

Shafiq has excelled against both spin and pace bowling

A diminutive batsman, Asad Shafiq has been one of the most impressive and consistent performers in international cricket. Yet due to being from a low-profile cricket nation and batting at the relatively less prominent position of No 6 for most of his career, Shafiq doesn’t get talked about as much as other exciting young batsmen from the subcontinent.

An average of 39.71 could justify this relative oversight of Shafiq but with him also, there is a long list of very impressive accomplishments.

He is a brilliant player of spin and his many good knocks in Asian conditions testify to this fact. But Shafiq is also very capable against fast bowling. In the winter of 2012/13 season, when the South African pace trio of Steyn, Morkel and Philander were knocking over batting line-ups for fun, Shafiq produced a magnificent hundred in challenging conditions of Cape Town against that bowling line-up.

His fighting knock of 137 against Australia in the day/night Brisbane Test of December 2016 was another show of his batting prowess.

With 11 hundreds, scored all over the world, in 58 Tests, Shafiq is certainly a very admirable performer and with the departure of Misbah and Younis from the Pakistani team, may take his deserved position in the top-order and could reach an even higher level of success.