Powerered by Babar Azam's 151 and Iftikhar Ahmed's 109*, Pakistan kicked-off their Asia Cup 2023 campaign with an  emphatic 238-run win over Nepal in Multan.

Pakistan go into the Asia Cup as the number one ranked ODI team after defeating Afgahnistan in the 3-match series.

Usman Qadir chats to Saj Sadiq about his lack of consistent chances in international cricket, his disappointment at not being given a run of matches for Pakistan, responds to accusations that he has only played international cricket due to his friendship with Babar Azam, any regrets on leaving Australia and returning to Pakistan, the pressure of having a cricketing legend as his father, his future hopes to return to international cricket and more.

"I've not had the chances that some other players have been given to prove themselves" : Usman Qadir - YouTube

Imad Wasim chats to Saj about missing out on selection for the Afghanistan series and Asia Cup, his hopes of an ODI recall, Pakistan's chances at the Asia Cup and World Cup, looks forward to the CPL, his experience of MLC, Mohammad Amir's continued retirement from international cricket and more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gCu4-iflFg

Shadab Khan chats to Saj about The Hundred, his hopes of playing Test cricket again for Pakistan, Babar Azam's captaincy, some fans having short memories when it comes to player performances, the upcoming Asia Cup, Pakistan's huge clash against India at the World Cup, any plans for Virat Kohli, Pakistan's chances at this year's World Cup and more.

https://youtu.be/69NXmJq6-Aw

The Pakistan Cricket Board has appointed wicketkeeper-batter Rohail Nazir as the Pakistan Shaheens captain for the Top End T20 Series in Darwin, Australia, which is being organised by Northern Territory Cricket (NTC) from 30 July to 6 August.

Apart from the NTC side, NT Strike, and Pakistan Shaheens, Australian Capitol Territory’s ACT Comets, Melbourne Stars, Melbourne Renegades and Papua New Guinea (PNG) will participate in the six-team tournament in a T20 format with the top-two sides progressing to the final.

At the backend of the T20 matches, Shaheens will also play two 50-over matches against PNG and NT Strike on 8 and 9 August, respectively.

The Darwin tour is part of the PCB’s policy to create more opportunities for the emerging cricketers to play away cricket in different conditions against different oppositions across all formats so that they can hone their skills and also expand the pool of players. In this relation, Pakistan Shaheens recently toured Zimbabwe and are presently in Sri Lanka for the ACC Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup. The squad will also take part in the 19^th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 from 19 September to 8 October.

Rohail Nazir has played 33 first-class matches and has previously captained Pakistan Shaheens. He recently toured Zimbabwe where the Shaheens’ squad played two four-dayers and six 50-over matches in May.

Aaliyan Mahmood made his first-class debut in the 2022-23 season, while Basit Ali and Shawaiz Irfan featured in the U19 series against Bangladesh in Multan in 2022. Faisal Akram and Mohammad Irfan Khan were on the roaster of Karachi Kings for the HBL Pakistan Super League 2023, while Mohammad Imran was part of Karachi Kings in the HBL Pakistan Super League 2022. Right-arm fast Syed Zeeshan Zameer featured for Islamabad United in the HBL Pakistan Super League 2023.

In addition to the above cricketers, the side also includes seven teenagers who were part of the Pakistan U19 squad that toured Bangladesh for a four-dayer, five 50-over and one T20 match series in May 2023. They are Amir Hassan, Ali Asfand, Arafat Minhas, Azan Awais, Sajjad Ali, Shamyl Hussain and Wahaj Riaz.

Pakistan Shaheens squad:

Rohail Nazir (captain), Aaliyan Mahmood, Ali Asfand, Amir Hassan, Arafat Minhas, Azan Awais, Basit Ali, Faisal Akram, Mohammad Imran, Sajjad Ali, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Shamyl Hussain, Shawaiz Irfan, Syed Zeeshan Zameer and Wahaj Riaz

Schedule of Pakistan Shaheens’ matches:

30 Jul – vs NT Strike (T20)

31 Jul – vs ACT Comets (T20)

1 Aug – vs Melbourne Renegades (T20)

2 Aug – vs Melbourne Stars (T20)

4 Aug – vs PNG (T20)

6 Aug – Final

8 Aug – vs PNG (50-over)

9 Aug – vs NT Strike (50-over)

Grant Bradurn at the end of Day 1:

Elaborate on how well your twofast forwarders golden in the morning.

Yeah, very, very, very proud of Nasim and Shaheen.

Shaheen taking his hundredth wicket here today was very special for him for obvious reasons too.

Been a year in the 90s for him, a very long nervous 90s because obviously of his injury that happened in the same ground so he was very happy.

Obviously we're ecstatic for him to take his hundredth today and bowl very well in a game.

As you well know, we have only taken two seamers into the match.

We rely heavily on the two seamers being able to put in a really serious shift and both of the boys bowled superbly today.

I thought we finished the day well with that little session at the end. Probably our best spell of the day.

We started very well of course and managed to makesome inroads into a very strong top order of Sri Lanka and particularly pleased with the way we finished today.

There were some parts in the middle which we weren't 100% happy with.

We set very high standards for this team and in this new WTC cycle.

We're setting about a new brand of cricket for Pakistan.

We want to go to new levels and we're setting high standards and some of the standards in the middle just show that we're a little bit shy of match hardness, that's all.

How does he rate SSA and NS?

We've gota champion bowling attack.

Shaheen is one of the leaders of that attack but we've got a number of other champion bowlers who aren't in Sri Lanka currently and on the park in Sri Lanka.

So we pride ourselves on producing quality bowlers and we're very happy with the balance of our attack that we put out today.

But Shaheen and Nasim, as I said, they were required to put in a real shift today on a wicket that traditionally is a batting friendly wicket for a day and a half.

And they certainly responded very well today and they are certainly champions of our team.

But we're very proud of all of our sides (all formats) having a foundation of quality bowling attacks across all formats.

On Salman Agha

He's had some real success early.

He is a wonderful bowler in terms of the variations that he bowled.

But again today I think he also showed that Test cricket is still about learning and he's still a student of the game and he's a wonderful student.

He's always hungry to learn new things.

He has developed a new delivery which he hasn't released today.

You might see it in this match but maybe in the second innings and that really impresses me about him.

Have a huge respect for him as a person and for what he's done and he's a wonderful young man to work with.

He's difficult to catch to, he's difficult to read.

And with his new mystery ball, let's see,it might take him to new levels.

But he showed today that, and I think all of our spinners showed today, that the pace you bowl on this pitch was very important.

And at times we were too quick and allowed batters just to freely take singles at their will, and at times we were a little bit slow and that opened up scoring opportunities for them.

So on a pitch today which was rather slow, the pace of our spinners had to be deadly accurate and we weren't quite accurate enough and our pace wasn't quite consistent enough for the standards we set. But we've already spoken about that and they understand.

Galle, 14 July 2023: A year after witnessing the two Tests between Pakistan and Sri Lanka from the sidelines in Galle, Saud Shakeel enters the upcoming series on Sunday as one of the mainstays of Pakistan batting after an impressive Test home season.

He was one of the four players to make a debut in the first Test against England in Rawalpindi on 1 December and the left-hander was quick to make an impression with a fourth-innings 76. He scored a gallantry 214-ball 94 in Multan to take Pakistan in the touching distance of the 355-run target before being declared caught behind down the leg by the third umpire.

He scored another second innings half-century in the next Test in Karachi with a 53 and when New Zealand arrived in Karachi for the two Tests, he registered his maiden Test century with a 341-ball 125 not out in the second Test at the same venue where he had brought up his maiden first-class ton.

Saud has scored, at least, 50 or more in the six of his 10 innings. The next few weeks, however, will present Saud, who has made 4,844 runs at an average of 52.08 in 65 first-class matches, a different set of challenges, as he will play his first away Tests. The 27-year-old has made the most of the preparatory camps in Lahore and Karachi to make sure he has all the necessary tools to counter them.

“We have had good preparations leading into this series with camps in Lahore and Karachi,” Saud told PCB Digital. “I’ve focused on enhancing my skills and adding a few more shots in the repertoire. There was a specific focus on spin during the camp in Lahore, which gave me good practice to counter spin on the turning tracks here.

“I’ve also focused on how I can score runs in Sri Lanka conditions, because at the end it is the runs that matter. I play sweep shot well, so I further improved it. Playing the sweep helps me derail the line and length of a bowler. I have also worked to improve my reverse sweep and footwork to tackle spin here.”

Saud has a variety of sweeps - paddle sweep, a full-fledge sweep behind or in front of squad and a slog sweep - in his arsenal and has deployed them with great effect over his career.

Does he premeditate when it comes to working the ball square by getting on his left knee?

“I do,” he said. “Sweep shot is my strength. Some players improvise it, but I premediate it, as I want it to be perfect by reaching the pitch of the ball and having my head in the right position.”

Pakistan famously squared the two-match series last year by recording the highest-ever pursuit in Galle by chasing down 342 at the back of Abdullah Shafique’s 160 not out. Another youngster, Salman Ali Agha, made his Test debut in that series and Saud, ahead of his maiden away Test, is gathering as much knowledge as he can by speaking to those who played in those Tests.

“We [the players] do talk about the game and share knowledge,” he said. “I talk to Abdullah [Shafique] a lot because we are together mostly. When I was here with the team last year, I saw that the spinners do get help from the surfaces, but if you keep on countering them by playing attacking shots regularly and keep ticking the scoreboard, you shift the pressure on the opposition.

“We chased 350 [342] in Galle last year, which looked an impossible task, but our plan was to go for runs and it put the opposition under pressure.”

Though, this might be his first Test away from home soil, Saud comes with plenty of domestic experience that he believes helped him graduate smoothly to Test cricket. He captained Shaheens when they toured Dambulla to play Sri Lanka ‘A’ in two unofficial Tests and three List-A games in 2021. Pakistan batted only twice in the unofficial Test series and Saud made 118 in one of them.

“The experience of playing domestic cricket and for country’s ‘A’ side helps a cricketer a lot. It has helped me a great deal too. I’ve played a lot of domestic cricket in my career. I toured here with Pakistan Shaheens in 2021, though we played in a different city, it gave me an idea of how conditions are here.”

Having a cool and calm head has also helped. “International cricket is all about handling pressure, so if you stay calm on the wicket you can make better decisions. Off the field, as well, I am calm, and it helps me in making better decisions.”

Saud made the most of the off-season by turning out for Yorkshire this County Championship. The stint helped him understand how to further develop his game and ready himself for the challenges ahead.

“It has been a healthy break for me,” he reflected. “There was not much four-day cricket in Pakistan in the last six months so I went to the United Kingdom to play county cricket, which gave me a different experience. This off period also helped me to re-evaluate my game and understand how I can further enhance my skills and fitness, which will help me perform in this series.”

Saud has had a strong start to his Test career, putting 580 runs at a scintillating average of 72.50. With five half-centuries and a century in 10 innings, which does he rate the best?

“My first century in international cricket in Karachi is quite dear to me and it is almost my favourite,” he said. “I regret not being able to finish the match in Multan [against England] when I got out on 96 [94]. Had I finished it for my team, it would have been my favourite.”