Yorkshire have already got one rising star of Test Match batting in their squad in Harry Brook. Now they have another in Pakistan left-hander Saud Shakeel.
The county have recruited the Karachi-born run machine on a short-term overseas deal – initially four Championship games immediately before the start of the Vitality Blast with scope for an extension to his stay at Headingley.
Aged 27, Shakeel has played five Test Matches and five ODIs.
He made his international debut in 50-over fixture against England at Cardiff last summer, first appearing in the Test arena against the same opponents in Rawalpindi at the start of December just gone – the ‘Bazball’ series.
While Shakeel may not have had quite the sparkling start to his Test career that Brook has had, it’s still been mightily impressive.
In 10 innings in the middle order, he has not scored below 22 and has posted standout scores of 76, 63, 94, 53, 55 not out and 125 not out. In every Test he has played, he has scored at least one fifty.
His century came in a draw against New Zealand at Karachi in early January.
Shakeel plays his domestic cricket for Sindh and has scored 4,773 runs in 62 first-class career matches to date, including 16 hundreds. He averages an eye-catching 54.23.
He is some player, and Yorkshire are delighted to have him – hopefully featuring alongside Brook at some point if the extension to his stay works out.
