Out-of-favor Pakistan batsman Ahmad Shahzad was once compared with India captain Virat Kohli. He used to be seen as someone with equally good batting skills. But as time passed, Kohli kept rising and Shahzad's name started to fade away.
The 28-year-old believes the reason is lack of support from the team management. Speaking to Cricingif, he talked about the comparison with modern great.
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"Bilkul aata hai (on facing pressure due to comparisons). Humlog do logo ko compare karte hain bagaer background jaane. Ek player ko banane ke liye ek coach, captain aur cricket board yeh sab chizen lagti hai. Confidence diya jaata hai. (We tend to compare two players without focussing on their respective backgrounds. For any payer to succeed, it requires the backing of the coach, captain and cricket board. In short, he or she needs confidence in order to do well.)"
Shahzad rues the fact that he didn't get enough backing or things would have been different now. He further added, "Jabtak ek proper support nahi hoga, ek player jabtak andar baahar hote rahega, toh woh confidence shatter hojata hai. Phir survival ki jung hoti hai. Virat, Babar, Kane, Joe Root, Rohit sabka background dekho toh woh lucky bhi rahe hain. Kohli ne bhi bahut saari series mein bataya ki woh drop hone wale the. Lekin, Mahi ne unhe drop nahi hone diya. Faith show kiya aur woh faith ka natija aap dekh rahe hain. Uss tarah aap Rohit ka career bhi utha ke dekhe, bahut saari aise situaitons aayi jahan ki woh aaram se drop ho sakte the, lekin faith show kiya. (Unless and until a player is given required support and a longer rope, his or her confidence won't increase. Then, they tend to fight for survival. If you look at the backgrounds of Virat, Rohit Sharma, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Babar Azam, they have been really lucky as well. Kohli had revealed that he was going to be dropped from plenty of series but MS Dhoni backed him. Same was the case with Rohit Sharma. Thus, faith was instilled upon them by Dhoni.)"
Shahzad played only 13 Tests even though he made his debut for Pakistan in whites seven years back. He hasn't featured in the Pakistan Test and ODI team since 2017.
(WITH CRICINGIF INPUTS)
