Abdullah Shafique, rightfully emotional, after scoring a ton against England on the first day of the first Test in Multan, stated that he felt relieved to leave the "challenges of failure" behind him, after he scored his second Test century in two years.
Once being on the verge of becoming the fastest cricketer to hit 1,000 Test runs, Shafique maintained a career slump which he just ended with his ton against the English bowlers in the extreme heat of Multan.
Shafique put up a 102-run inning off 184 balls with 10 fours and two sixes against the English.
At the Multan Cricket Stadium, he stepped up when his country needed him the most, putting up a 253-run stand with captain Shan Masood, who also scored a magnificent century.
"A sportsman has to face challenges and go through failure," Shafique said as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo.
"I'm thankful to the team management and the captain for trusting me and giving me a fair run. You face a lot of mental challenges and lots of doubts, but you have to overcome it all and perform,” he added.
Shafique’s praise of Masood does not come out of nowhere as the red-ball skipper has regularly stated the need for his players to feel safe in his team.
"Saim [Ayub] scored two 50s in the last two Tests, if we'd dropped him after the first Test, I've had that happen to me; it's not nice," he had said.
Remarkably, the captain had also stated that when he was out of the Test team for two years, he did not complain because he knew that the team playing at that time was backed as they were probably doing something right and understood that competition to get into the squad was high.
"When I was out of the team for two years, I averaged over 60 in List A cricket, but Imam [ul-Haq-] and Fakhar [Zaman] were consistently performing. I didn't complain that I wasn't being selected, because I understood the level of competition was high. If the coach was backing the players, they were doing the right thing”, he had said.
However, for Shafique, it was evident that he could not keep hanging to a thread of hope and that he had to prove himself against England to cement his place in the side, rightfully.
"It was a very important day as the first one of the series," Shafique said.
“The whole team understood the value of setting the tone upfront because that's the mode in which the team plays thereafter. The wicket is challenging to bat on a fresh pitch with the new ball, but the partnership between me and Shan gave the team a big boost”, he added.
He also reiterated that batting for this long in the sweltering heat of Multan was indeed a challenge.
"It's a challenge batting for long because of this extreme heat in Multan. But you can't let yourself make excuses and keep trying to do what you are required to do. How well you take your opportunity is what matters. It's not just the batter but the whole team which is confident when you do well,” the batter said.
- Abdullah Shafique
