Saud Shakeel

A throwback of an international cricketer, Saud Shakeel relies on a watertight technique and large reserves of patience as the foundational traits of his batting. Ever since being called up to what had become a vulnerable Pakistan Test middle order in 2022 at the relatively advanced age of 27, he showcased that temperament in a tense chase against England in only his second Test, where a fourth-innings 94 nearly got his side over the line in Multan.

Bred on the slow, low pitches of Karachi, he has been extremely effective at home, but has also shown his versatility by being the architect of a 2-0 win away in Sri Lanka. It included an unbeaten 208 in the first Test, which helped establish Shakeel as one of Pakistan's most solid batters within that middle order.

But big runs on South Asian pitches were juxtaposed sharply against struggles in quicker, bouncier conditions in South Africa and Australia, where he managed 213 runs in ten innings, with Pakistan losing each of the five Tests. Nonetheless he has invariably played a useful role in Pakistan's victories, the jewel in his crown probably being his series-clinching 134 against England on a Rawalpindi surface on which only two others reached 50. There's also his 84 on a similar strip, in Multan, against West Indies.

ODI cricket didn't come quite as naturally to Shakeel, the time-restrictive nature of the game not quite conducive to his temperament. And he was awarded the Quetta Gladiators captaincy in the PSL, arguably on stature rather than T20 ability. That stature comes from his red-ball ability and looks set to grow.