I have known Saud Shakeel for a very long time. From even before I was a sports journalist.

That he was a certain cricketer acing it in the Karachi circuit, was something I only came to know from my best friend Rafay, who was Saud’s classmate at college. To be honest, just to know that Rafay studied with a club cricketer was slightly exciting, given my craze for the sport at that time in particular.

That was 2009-10. As time would move forward, Saud would too. I would also eventually be making it to full time sports journalism five years later.

Following the sport closely then, it was I who used to update Rafay on his former classmate’s progress, with Saud already having played for the Pakistan Under-19s and having started his First Class career by then.

Saud, who started honing his cricket skills in the nets at Karachi’s Pakistan Cricket Club (PCC), would then go on to play for Pakistan A and lead the side later, before making his international debut in a one-dayer against England in Cardiff in 2021.

Saud Shakeel’s unbeaten double century in Galle allowed Pakistan to clinch its first Test victory in over a year. Who is this boy from Karachi’s Federal B. Area and how did he get here?

He arrived on the big stage truly though when he made his Test debut for Pakistan against England in December last year. The left-hander demonstrated his grit and reliability with six half centuries in his first five matches (three against England and two against New Zealand). But Saud announced he belonged to another level only when his recent 208 not out against Sri Lanka saw Pakistan clinch their first Test match in a year.

The 27-year-old’s show against Sri Lanka, in only his sixth Test outing, looked like that of a senior pro.

Apart from being awestruck by the authority he was showing at the crease, I felt I could relate to Saud.

“He was a typical Federal B. Area boy,” Rafay tells me, referring to the middle-class locality ripe with a taste of the city’s culture, of which cricket has always been a part. “He used to take the bus from the Baloch Colony bus stop to reach Ayesha Manzil.”

Saud’s demeanour was “soft”, my friend goes on to say. “But he was playful as well.”

At the crease, Saud is known for keeping a low profile. He keeps his head down but his focus is high. However, the street smartness of a regular Karachi bloke in him was evident when he toyed with the Sri Lankan bowlers in the first Test at Galle. He swept the hosts’ otherwise lethal spinner Prabath Jayasuriya at will and stole singles and doubles constantly to frustrate the Sri Lankan attack, eventually bagging the match.

Rafay’s description matches with what Saud showed in the middle at the Galle Stadium. Another observation of his about the player in his college days also makes sense now. “He was above average in studies,” Rafay recalls, “but his focus was cricket.”

Now more than established that Saud’s cricketing skills are of a high stature, it keeps dawning upon us that the player’s success has been a result of a strong and consistent mind. And who would be better suited to have gauged this other than Mohammad Wasim, the Pakistan chief selector who picked him for the national side for the first time.

“I saw him first in a proper match when he was playing for the Pakistan U-19s against Afghanistan in 2014-15,” Wasim tells Eos. “He was the kind of player you see playing two balls and know he has got it in him. I met him after that match for a little chat and he came across as a very confident person, with a balanced outlook.”

So impressed was Wasim by Saud that he went on to hire him for the Pakistan Television side, which he used to coach in those days. And at PTV, Wasim could witness Saud demonstrating some qualities that were key indicators of his potential to make it big.

“He always knew how to play, the skills were always there,” says Wasim.

“But what impressed me the most about Saud was his personality: confidence, calmness and self-belief. When you see a player show mental toughness and awareness of the game, you can easily say that he will go on to play at the highest level.

“And he has shown that in his performances for Pakistan. He knows how to put up a fight, he knows his game really well.”

While Saud’s patience with dealing with bowlers on the pitch has translated into big runs for him, it has also been the characteristic that has kept the batter going despite being on the sidelines in the Pakistan squad for a very long time. To get proper, consistent chances, Saud had to wait as just a squad player for a year or so.

“But once he got the opportunity, he grabbed it with both hands,” says Wasim. “Patience is a huge indicator of a player’s ability to shine at the biggest level,” he adds.

For Wasim, who saw Saud piling up the runs in the domestic circuit, especially through the last three years, it is the left-hander’s technical dominance over spin bowling, in particular, that has helped him do so well. As a coach, he says, he rates Saud’s ability to use his feet against spinners and his array of strokes, including the sweep and inside out shot, as his biggest strengths.

“As a coach, it makes me very proud to have worked with him,” says Wasim about Saud. “But I’d say I’m happier to have picked him for the Pakistan side.”

While Saud has proved his prowess in South Asian conditions, Wasim believes the player will have the “world class” label on him only when he scores runs on more challenging surfaces, such as those of England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Saud will have the opportunity to do that in the next two years of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship cycle.

It took me 13 years to meet Saud for the first time since Rafay brought him up in one of our many random conversations. I finally met him on the eve of Pakistan’s two-match Test series against New Zealand in Karachi last year. To my disappointment, Saud failed to recall Rafay. But he did say “I’d recognise him from his face.”

That was satisfactory for me. During our interaction then, I saw an almost expression-less Saud, only sticking to talking about aspects of cricket. Absolute focus.

The writer is a member of staff.
He tweets @shabbar_mir

Published in Dawn, EOS, July 30th, 2023