Pakistan go Saud to find middle-order fix

Until recently - that is, until very recently - Saud Shakeel was perceived to be a one-format batter. He had cracked Tests, but on Friday in Hyderabad, he walked in to bat with Pakistan tottering at 38 for 3 in their World Cup opening game, which was only his seventh ODI. It's far from the ideal scenario he had hoped to have come in at.

Yet, it was an opportunity to prove his batting chops by walking the tightrope. Counterpunching isn't part of most batting DNAs in such situations, most definitely not if you are on World Cup debut. This is why Shakeel's knock, a stroke-filled 52-ball 68, was refreshing.

At 28, he would know the challenges late bloomers like him face - for one, fewer chances of comebacks if you mess up. To recalibrate to the demands of his role in such a high-stakes environment spoke volumes about his clarity and calmness.

As a batter, Shakeel has made waves in red-ball cricket - a Test average of 87.14 across 13 innings is testimony to that. But with his team in choppy waters against Netherlands, the only Associate nation in the competition, he wasn't going to ride on past glory.

Until early August, Shakeel wasn't even in the mix for an ODI middle-order slot. The first inkling of him being in the fray came during the ODIs against Afghanistan. He managed all of one innings in that series, but Pakistan captain Babar Azam spoke glowingly of his game against spin. Those words may have seemed a mere consolation for Shakeel when he discovered Tayyab Tahir had leapfrogged him for the Asia Cup squad, but that was all soon to change.

Tayyab hadn't done much wrong; he was riding a wave of confidence following a match-winning century against India in the final of the ACC Emerging Cup, but a new selection panel saw things slightly differently. And just like that, Shakeel had his opening at the Asia Cup when he was drafted in late. Against Netherlands, he proved why that call has the potential to become a masterstroke.

Pre-match routines either reveal a lot or give away precious little. Shakeel's on Thursday was an education in conditions-specific training. He had a long stint in the nets and had more of it 30 minutes before toss, slogging it out in the outdoor area, imploring the coaches to give him more and more throw downs.

Shakeel was seemingly working on his backlift, which looked to be coming from way over his left shoulder. The attempt was to try and minimise the bat swing. Or at least, that's what it seemed like from afar, through barricades and a green cloth.

Muscle memory can be a funny thing, though, and you can slip back into your comfort zone under pressure. And at 38 for 3, the heat was on.

The second delivery he faced, this high backlift troubled Shakeel again. He was late on the ball as an edge off Paul van Meekeren flew over the vacant gully region. Off his eighth ball, Shakeel edged another as he came down late on the ball that skidded through and flew low to Vikramjit Singh's right at slip. As a batter, these are the dollops of luck that can easily go against you. Here, it was with Shakeel and how.

It felt like a real test of the 'Pakistan way' that Mickey Arthur and Grant Bradburn have been very vocal about. The team has bought into the concept, but there wasn't even an inkling of it yet because of the massive hole they were in. But without taking too many risks, and purely playing to the fields and putting away loose deliveries, Mohammad Rizwan and Shakeel brought up the half-century off the partnership off just 51 balls.

Shakeel's brain was ticking. Every over against spin, he carefully surveyed fields. In the 21st, even before left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe had bowled, Shakeel spotted an extra fielder outside the 30-yard circle. As he stepped out and chipped him into the vacant spaces to pick up a boundary at deep midwicket, Shakeel wildly waved to get the umpire's attention about the extra fielder. It was indeed a no-ball, and he walloped the free-hit for six, expertly using the depth of his crease to pull.

Pakistan were beginning to hit top gear, much of it down to the enterprise Shakeel showed along with Rizwan, who batted with sage-like calm, aware of the risks a wrong choice of shot brought at that stage, but still ticking along swiftly.

This had a deflating effect on Netherlands. Their body language went a bit flat, the high-fives for regulation stops disappeared, and there was a sameness to proceedings. There was no bigger sign than this that Pakistan hadn't just wriggled out of the bore pit, but had begun closing it in too.

Shakeel soon raised his half-century off 32 balls in an over where he carted Vikramjit for two straight boundaries. This was naked aggression at its very best; an assault so precise that it didn't feel like one. It was pure instinct-driven batting married with timing out of the top drawer.

The century of the partnership was soon up, even as Rizwan coolly slipped into the role he's so adept at. This was further validation of why the No. 4 spot, which Pakistan had seemingly been struggling with, should firmly now be set in stone for the immediate future.

The partnership did two things. It undid the damage at the top and gave them a bit of cushion for the lower order, if there was a late collapse, which we went on to witness. That cushion helped Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan play themselves in before steering Pakistan to a total that eventually proved well beyond reach for a spirited Netherlands side. To make 286 from 188 for 6 was yet another exhibition of why teams yearn for this kind of batting depth in ODIs, for it allows them to keep going.

At three down, as a Pakistan fan, you would have perhaps been praying hard for a Shaheen Afridi special or thunderbolts from Haris Rauf, which were amply on display under the night sky. However, the genesis of this win lay in how a nerveless Shakeel steered clear of the chaos and delivered the punch that will make Arthur very, very happy.

You didn't need more evidence of there being more to Pakistan's batting than just Babar and Rizwan.