Azhar applauds Asad’s skill at No 6

BRISBANE: It was a somewhat incongruous sight on day one in Brisbane: a West Indies legend attending a Test between Australia and Pakistan on Sunday.

Had Sir Garry Sobers, currently on a speaking tour in Australia, stayed at the Gabba a few days more, he would have witnessed Asad Shafiq break a 43-year-old record set by Sobers himself.

As Asad steered the tail and led Pakistan’s fightback in a marathon final session on day four, he also passed Sobers’ tally of eight centuries from No 6.

The technically proficient Shafiq, who had never batted at six before making his Test debut, has made the most of his position down the order, becoming something of a specialist at guiding the bowlers through difficult periods at the crease.

“He always batted brilliantly with the tail,” his team-mate Azhar Ali said after play. “He always loved to bat up the order, but he performed for us at number six. Especially scoring [nine] centuries at number six is not easy.

“Our lower order didn’t really have very good averages, but he bats with them very well and he scored [nine] hundreds, it’s a very special achievement. He has scored a lot of runs also, he’s averaging 40-plus, which is a very good achievement.”

“He’s a special player. I’ve always rated him as a very fine player, because batting at No 6 is never easy,” Azhar said. “But as a team plan, he started batting [up the order], but again the team manager thinks that this is our best combination. As team players we always are willing to play wherever our team needs. He’s a brilliant player who can bat at any number. Hopefully he gets his number soon.

“He bats at number six really well. He could be probably better than any of us [there]. That’s probably the reason he got back at number six. Sometimes you have to make decisions according to the situation, according to the team plan. That’s why I went to open the batting, because of the requirement of the team. It’s a team game, so we’re all happy with what the team demands of us.”

“Before we started today, the discussion was to back ourselves, and back our ability to score runs in these conditions,” Azhar said. “First innings, it didn’t go to plan and you can easily doubt your techniques and ability to score runs in these conditions.

“But the message from the captain and the coach was to back yourself... I think everyone batted with a lot of determination and a lot of skills. As a unit, we’re really happy how this day has gone.

“It’s never easy to chase that big a total, but we certainly made a very good effort, especially the way Younis Khan batted — he came back into form, which is very important; he’s a senior player and is always there to perform for us.

“Asad was struggling for runs and he came back with a bang and in the dressing room we really enjoyed his innings and the way he batted. It was a really special knock. Also special contributions from Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz, the way they showed the determination… It will really help us get more confidence going through the series.”

“Obviously the wicket in the last over really hurt,” Azhar said. “It still would have been a big task, but it looks a bit bigger now because we have only two wickets. But still Asad is there, so we have hopes that if he carries on — and Yasir Shah and Rahat [Ali] can bat with him as long as they can - we can actually get closer at least.”