The Yorkshire County Cricket Club roped in Pakistan batting prodigy Saud Shakeel for the ongoing County Championship 2023 on a short-term overseas contract.
The Yorkshire CCC signed the left-handed batter Shakeel for a four-match stint and will be available for selection for the second Insurance County Championship game against Gloucestershire, scheduled to commence on April 13.
The left-handed batter was roped in by Yorkshire to bolster their squad following an injury to overseas player Neil Wagner, and the unavailability of new captain Shan Masood for the initial rounds of the Championship after being selected in Pakistan’s upcoming home series against New Zealand.
📢 Yorkshire sign Saud Shakeel!
The Pakistan batter will available for at least the next four County Championship matches 🏏
Read more ⤵#YorkshireFamily
— Yorkshire CCC (@YorkshireCCC) April 7, 2023
The County Club, however, highlighted the possibility of Saud’s contract extension.
“Shakeel will be available for an initial four-game spell in Division Two, though there is scope for an extension to his stay at Headingley,” stated Yorkshire CCC in a press release.
Darren Gough, Managing Director of Cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club, said: “Saud is a very talented young player, he will be a wonderful addition to our current squad.
“He did well against England and New Zealand – and here at Yorkshire we want to get the balance right between youth and experience and we now feel we have got a squad where we have plenty of opportunities for everyone.
“We don’t want to be in a position like last year where we had to rely purely on youth at times – you need that balance in the line-up.”
Since making his Test debut for Pakistan in December 2022, Saud accumulated 580 runs at an average of 71.50 from five Tests, with one hundred and five fifties from 10 innings.
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