Shehzad finds form as Quetta Gladiators take down Karachi Kings
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Embattled Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad finally found some form, smacking 71 off 46 balls to help Quetta Gladiators defeat Karachi Kings by eight wicket in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) on Saturday.
Shehzad, who has been under fire for his dipping international form, looked comfortable from the onset and easily out-batted belligerent partner Luke Wright (47) in Quetta's chase of 148.
The 24-year-old hit five fours and four huge sixes and was ably supported by England discard Kevin Pietersen who remained unbeaten on 29 off 17 balls and finished the game off with a six.
Earlier, Quetta's decision to bowl first paid immediate dividends as Karachi's openers Nauman Anwar and Lendl Simmons were dismissed inside the powerplay.
The innings stuttered further as Shoaib Malik's Karachi Kings found themselves on 4-69 in 11.4 overs as Quetta captain Sarfraz Ahmed shuffled his bowler's smartly.
Malik 37 off 25 and England's Ravi Bopara 40 off 29, hit some lusty blows to take the innings to 147/7 in 20 overs.
In response, Quetta found it smooth sailing against the likes of Mohammad Amir, Sohail Tanvir, Imad Wasim and Shakib Al Hasan, all of whom found it difficult to contain the opposition.
The win gave Quetta its second win in two games and the underrated side look like tournament-favourites all of a sudden. They will take on a strong Peshawar Zalmi side on Sunday.
Kohli also went through a bad patch
After the win, Shehzad said he wasn't too worried about the battle for World Twenty20 spots and was solely focussed on the PSL campaign.
“For the last three years I have been giving my best for the Pakistan team. I play sincerely and work very hard. I am still young. There are times when a player fails to deliver consistently. Every player faces such times and its normal.”
Shehzad said he would be happy with what ever decision the selectors make when picking the World T20 squad.
“The innings I played today was not to pressurise the selectors or to get selected for Pakistan. I’d happy with whatever they decide for the World T20.”
“Players like Kohli, Dhawan, Sharma and Joe Root also lose their form, but it's their talent and ability which makes them the best.”
“Players with such ability need to be backed and given confidence.”
Shehzad brings up his fifty in style
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On DawnNews
Comments (52) Closed
Feb 06, 2016 09:00pm
There is no chance now that India can defeat Pakistan.. With Shehzad and Kohli in form Pak will wreak havoc..
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Feb 06, 2016 09:00pm
Dude, you are not young as you claim, in cricket life "24" is mid career not young.
You just haven't performed in international cricket, and it's not entirely because of poor form, the problem is with your technique and immature choice of shots that you try and get out at very early score!!
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Feb 06, 2016 09:01pm
Shehzad and Amir I meant
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Feb 06, 2016 09:05pm
don't make him a hero. it's 1 out of 15 match where he scores over 20. . and this is not an international ,which matters.
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Feb 06, 2016 09:06pm
Hahaha ...Shehzad and Form....you jocking....he will lost the form in next match.....but Pak selectors found a reason to include him in WC T20 squad....
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Feb 06, 2016 09:12pm
@Sarah
Kholi plays for India, just so you know :)
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Feb 06, 2016 09:14pm
Shezad has played his one good inning and now for next 10 he will not perform, same old story
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Feb 06, 2016 09:15pm
"Go Quetta go".
Pakistan must give a chance to Rumman Raees from United. He looks pretty smart & skilled bowler.
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Feb 06, 2016 09:17pm
psl,ipl, big bash is recreational cricket any form or form in them doesn't mean a squat enjoy the game just remember international cricket is totally different field sarah sir.
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Feb 06, 2016 09:25pm
@Sarah Yes I am little confused with this post. But no chance Pakistan will defeat and win the world cup. Kholi is definitely in form and so is Ahmed Shehzad
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Feb 06, 2016 09:26pm
@Sarah
So it means no need for T20 world cup. We must demand ICC to dispatch the trophy to Pakistan.
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Feb 06, 2016 09:28pm
Wait! Does he think he is as good as
Kohli, Dhawan, Sharma and Joe Root ?!?!?!
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Feb 06, 2016 09:38pm
Well done Quetta. You have put Lahore in its place.
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Feb 06, 2016 09:39pm
For Lahore please read Karachi.
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Feb 06, 2016 09:45pm
The empty stands in the stadium must be a worrying factor for the organisers. This is just the beginning..may be.
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Feb 06, 2016 09:46pm
@Sarah Don't worry Kohli is in everyones lips including Pakistanis!
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Feb 06, 2016 09:54pm
So it means for next 4-5 matches Ahmed Shahzad will score under 10.
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Feb 06, 2016 10:00pm
@osman Do you have any better suggestions for the opening slot?
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Feb 06, 2016 10:09pm
Thanks PCB, we are really enjoying the test matches being played in Dubai. Thanks for preparing a perfect wicket for the event.
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Feb 06, 2016 10:16pm
@Sarah do u realise kohli plays for India.
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Feb 06, 2016 10:41pm
This guy never score in a critical match. Don't be tricked by his one off performance
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Feb 06, 2016 11:44pm
Sadly he's a one match wonder.
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Feb 07, 2016 12:23am
After playing just one single innings after one year's failures now he wants to be backed as some one back Kohli, Dhawan and Sharma.
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Feb 07, 2016 12:26am
once in a blue moon should not be the criteria to get selected for national team instead the consistency should matter.
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Feb 07, 2016 12:34am
shahzad please don't brag and concentrate more on your game ... your performance ratio is 1/99
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Feb 07, 2016 12:37am
@Sarah you can't make judgement because of Ahmed Shehzad's one performance. We have to see how does he perform in the next few macthes. Secondly the mindset of Pakistan cricket coaching always favours selection of parchi players rather then meritorious players. Still long way to dream of Pakistan as a good team with Waqar Younis and Haroon Rasheed on board
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Feb 07, 2016 12:43am
How many changes should be given?
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Feb 07, 2016 01:02am
I remember shazads early games. Tour of newzeland few years ago - he was aggressive and then misbah influenced him. He lost his style since then. Misbah may have been a great test captain but he really ruined ODI batting line up -- examples - shazad and umar akmal.
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Feb 07, 2016 01:03am
Oh my god, this guy performs after 2 years, and that to in a domestic set-up and he starts comparing himself to Kohli, Dhawan, Rohit.
For God's sake, he is not even close to their level and has been in the team due to sifaarish.
But knowing how short-sighted both our selectors and Afridi are, this performance has guaranteed him a starting spot in both the Asia Cup and World T20.
For all us fans who think we have a shot in either of those tournaments, we need to stop dreaming and wake-up.
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Feb 07, 2016 01:42am
Ideally players like Shehzad should never get their place back in Pak squad as they have already hurt Pak cricket so much but the problem is where are the replacements??
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Feb 07, 2016 01:45am
@Sarah So after 10 flops when a players scores one decent innings in a non international game by your definition he is in form? So for you Afridi must be greatest sportsman alive I guess? And Akmal in the hall of fame?
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Feb 07, 2016 02:42am
He always find this type of form every 10 innings or so. and a timely form this time with wt20 sqaud to be announced in 2 days time. He has booked his place for wt20 and next year with tjis 50
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Feb 07, 2016 03:13am
@Kamran Ahmed Shahzad's test average is similar to them
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Feb 07, 2016 04:27am
Flash in the pan.
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Feb 07, 2016 05:42am
shehzad has surprised -------now he will play as he used to before this match.
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Feb 07, 2016 08:03am
PSL is definitely a good platform to find new talent however I have a suggestion for PCB and selectors. PCB has I guess announced probable team for world cup T20 and what they should now do is pick a second 15 players squad from new talent or rising stars headed by seasoned captain like Misbah.
Put up a tournament as in five match series between Pak XI and Rising Stars XI in five different cities of Pakistan. This will be a great tournament to evaluate each player prior to major tournaments like Asia Cup and world cup.
I am sure this will help tremendously and we will come with THE BEST.
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Feb 07, 2016 09:33am
Occasional batsman. He is following the path of shahid Afridi in terms of inconsistency.
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Feb 07, 2016 09:38am
Ahmed Shehzad needs to go find his technique and not form. Form will come and go but he has a very flawed technique as an opening batsman. His left foot barely moves, and he hardly brings his right foot in the play. Its like stand and deliver and this will not work for a long time in International cricket. He is exposed badly and it seems will drift away soon if he does not work on his technique and temperament. He is not even 30% of Virat kohli.
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Feb 07, 2016 09:52am
@JHK Absolutely. This is what comes to my mind when I see these two. Misbah is the root cause of all the batting evils that Pakistani players of this era have acquired in ODI and T20. Promoting stupid and brainless batsmen like Azhar and Shafiq in ODI is another rubbish thing he and Younis Khan did.these two gentlemen killed the natural and free flowing instinct of 2 generation of Pakistani batsmen to say the least.
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Feb 07, 2016 09:54am
too little too late shehzad ! you've performed once in a succession of failures right before the Pakistan t20i team is about to be announced! .if you want to prove your metal and assure us that was not just a one of then perform again and again before your brought back to the pak team
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Feb 07, 2016 10:34am
You are too old to be wasting our time.. please please retire.
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Feb 07, 2016 10:37am
@Hasan Perfect comment... Now he has scored 40, he confirmed his place for 5-10 matches... he would be more into selfies now instead of his cricket...
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Feb 07, 2016 10:37am
What's up with Kohli comparisons dude! Stay in your league and try to beat Nasir Jamshed's stats.
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Feb 07, 2016 10:37am
once again great Quetta love you
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Feb 07, 2016 10:55am
Dont be so harsh on an individual. What if he plays big role in World Cup ?
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Feb 07, 2016 11:01am
now wait for the next 10 matches for the " inform" shahzad to score above thirty.no new batsman for pak in the psl so far. why pak didnt prepare such type of pitches during the england series.?
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Feb 07, 2016 11:24am
Well played AS! it is nice to see you coming back to batting form. Just mature a bit. Many thanx and Salams
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Feb 07, 2016 01:13pm
Well played but I might hurt some of his fans, Authority wasn't there. We need a confident and consistent player. Shehzad have hit some big scores in the past but his success rate is very low. We need someone who can at least score 40+ almost in every second game. Don't forget even a kid or a rash player can hit a century once in a while.
Once again I beg to all Pakistan supporters stop comparing him with Kohli. Kohli is a legend and he is just a straggler and rash player.
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Feb 07, 2016 02:01pm
To all those fools saying he is a one match wonder, name me one player who scores consistently. In one match he has shown his class and he'll get better in KP's, Sir Vivian's and Sanga's presence. Even Kohli didn't score a single 50 on England tour but did they drop him for that? On the other hand we dropped Shehzad after the World Cup even though he was the second highest scorer for Pakistan in the event. When was the last time Hashim Amla scored an ODI 50? Recently DE Villiers scored three ducks in a row so is he useless too? If a player fails for a few matches, our "ungrateful awaam" starts bashing that player like he has committed a crime, forgetting his previous performance. Name me one Pakistan player who has scored this much centuries in such a short span of time. I won't be surprised if you fools turn on Babar Azam as well after a few failures. I feel sorry for the players who play for "ungrateful awaam" like you. You people make me sick.
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Feb 07, 2016 02:30pm
@Wajahat Hassan buddy wats the batting average of Shehzad & kohli, ??? thats the difference that speaks volumes..
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Feb 07, 2016 10:55pm
@osman
I totally agree, it is 1 out of 15 or may be more and remember he never performs in the matches where it really matters. Just before the big tournaments our players wake up to make it to the big tournaments and then Pocket the tax payer money for the next tournament to bribe selectors, They then fail as usual to win matches in big tournaments for the sake of the Country.
I hope this time the selectors will wake up and will not succumb to old habits of sifaarish , nepotism and favoritism before the World T20 and would rather think about restoring some pride for Pakistan and will hopefully sincerely think for Pakistan and the cricket lovers in Pakistan.
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Feb 08, 2016 04:46am
In the latest match with Peshawar, his scoring is back to 16.. did he lose is form again?
His form is like eid ka chand.
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