The curious case of Asad Shafiq

On the eve of the third day of the first test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Abu Dhabi, after Pakistan’s top order had pretty much batted Sri Lanka out of the game, one expected the rest of the batsmen to fire all cylinders and set up a declaration. With Younus Khan gone, and the lead past 150, Misbah stepped in. On a flat track offering minimal support to the lacklustre Sri Lankan bowling, the Pakistani skipper’s fall after a breezy cameo, 46 off 52 balls, brought the comeback kid Asad Shafiq to the crease.
With Lankans down on the mat, one expected Asad to capitalise on it and perhaps treat the spectators, who had earlier witnessed a blockathon by Taufeeq Umar and Azhar Ali, with his lovely stroke play. However, what followed was inexplicable. Instead of foot on the accelerator, Asad pulled the hand brakes – managing to score just a solitary run in the first 33 deliveries he faced. It took a message from the dressing room to finally get him to show some intent, but even then the tape-ball cricket prodigy could only manage 26 runs off 94 deliveries. And as if his lack of strokeplay was not frustrating enough for his mates, who wanted him to smash a few out of the park before they could get back into the middle, he even got Taufeeq run out by refusing a quick single.
There may not be much doubt about Asad’s skill-set, but his inability to read the situation and play accordingly is in question now. This when on this very ground he had made a mature half century on debut against South Africa a year ago. However, on this occasion he looked out of sorts, not knowing what to do. While some might call for Shoaib Malik’s induction or Umar Akmal’s recall, but that would just be a quick fix, not a solution. It wasn’t that Asad was having trouble playing his shots; it was just that he did not want to. With Malik lurking in the dressing room, and Umar piling on runs in the domestic circuit, he knew that the competition was stiff and that the selectors’ axe not that far off.
With Hafeez in supreme touch this year, Taufeeq having scored a double-century and Azhar scoring his 10th half-century, Asad was the odd one from the lot. And intent on not throwing his wicket away, he adopted a formula that has worked quite successfully for Taufeeq and Azhar. But while Taufeeq and Azhar could afford the luxury, Asad could not. And given the timing, his ploy has done more harm than good to his odds of cementing his place in the team.
It seems that a similar insecurity is playing on Azhar’s mind every time he gets into the 60s and 70s. He seems to lose focus, and with that his wicket, with the century in sight. While competition for a spot in the eleven is generally good, in our case it has turned out to be a factor that places mental blocks in the heads of the young batsmen. With our selectors’ accent on giving brief runs to youngsters, players feel more insecure than motivated. Hence, it is time that the selectors begin to show a little more faith in the talent they chose and gave them a decent run, even if it means keeping the experience of Malik and the explosiveness of Umar at bay. This would definitely inject some much needed confidence in the players, who would no longer feel as if their back is against the wall all the time.