Cricket World Player of the Week - Abid Ali

Ugly or beautiful, runs are runs and Pakistan opener Abid Ali knows the art of scoring them.

For the longest time, Pakistan had been searching for an opener who could bat time. Abid Ali's test strike rate of 46.32 may not look that impressive but he has been crucial in holding the team's batting together.

Pakistan have a lot of stroke makers like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Faheem Ashraf but what they really need is someone to drop the anchor, which is the role that Abid Ali plays quite efficiently.

He was a bit down on runs recently but had a brilliant test series against Zimbabwe. In the first innings of the second test match, Abid Ali struck an unbeaten 215 off 407 balls, showing great composure and patience. He struck 29 boundaries and batted through the innings at a strike rate of just over 50.

Abid Ali scores his maiden double ton ??

He has taken Pakistan past 440 and his eighth-wicket stand with Nauman Ali has crossed 100.#ZIMvPAK | https://t.co/8hH4EMRnA8 pic.twitter.com/VIt6Exlh4j

— ICC (@ICC) May 8, 2021

Abid Ali is one of the few batsmen to score a hundred on both test debut and ODI debut. In fact, he struck hundreds in both of his first two test matches, scoring 174 against Sri Lanka in Karachi and 109 against the same opposition in Rawalpindi.

With Shan Masood having been dropped from the test set up, a double century has ensured that Ali has some more credit points in the bank to last longer. His opening partnership with Imran Butt also appears to be settling down nicely.

The opener's 275 runs from two innings in the series played a major role in Pakistan's 2-0 series sweep over Zimbabwe.

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