Sharjeel Khan signs up for a 'gift' with timely ton

The first ten overs of the third qualifying play-off whizzed past in the blink of an eye. Islamabad United, inserted into bat, put on 79 runs on the board and while Barbadian Dwayne Smith plodded around to a 29-ball 14, his 26-year-old opening partner though, was wreaking havoc at the other end. Shahid Afridi and his fellow spinners were repeatedly mowed through cow corner. A 28-ball half-century had been completed but the real challenge was still to come. Wahab Riaz - Pakistan's premier fast bowler and the league's highest wicket-taker had only just come on to bowl.

This battle would set the tone of play for the second half of the innings. Wahab's third delivery, his first to the burly left-hander, was pitched on a length outside off stump. It was pacy and rose quickly toward the left-hander, who had already committed himself on to the front foot. A transfer of weight, a swish of the blade. Crack! Four. Not a fielder moved.

PSL's first century on Sunday (February 21) was worth waiting for. It was a heady mix of the brute and the deft - the kind that can leave opposition tearing their hair out. Sharjeel Khan pulled with disdain, flicked with finesse and drove with purpose and by the end of his 62-ball stay, had all but KO'ed the best bowling attack of the PSL. All Zalmi could do at the end of the game was walk to the batsman and doff their hats to him. It was that kind of a knock.

"It was an exceptional innings. You get to see something like this only once in a while. Chris Gayle does it at times. Full marks to Sharjeel. He blew away some of the best bowlers in the competition," said Mohammad Akram, head coach of Zalmi, in the aftermath of his team's elimination.

Comparisons to Gayle may appear over the top on first sight, considering Sharjeel's modest T20 numbers - 1536 runs from 57 games at 28.44 - but the Hyderabad-born (Pakistan) batsman has long been considered amongst the cleanest strikers of the cricket ball in Pakistan's cricket circles. His strike rate of 142 is a glowing testament to his T20 credentials. While there have been no questions regarding Sharjeel's ability or temperament, fitness or the lack of it has been cited as a major impediment to his progress towards sealing a spot in the T20I side, which incidentally is in dire need of a power-hitter at the top.

Sharjeel last represented Pakistan during the ODI series in Sri Lanka in 2014, following which he was left out owing to an inconsistent run of form. Runs however, kept coming in spurts while playing for the United Bank Limited (UBL) in Pakistan's domestic cricket. Followers of UAE's domestic cricket, where Sharjeel has been a regular since turning out for Phoenix Medicines five years ago, continued to speak glowingly of the left-hander's big-hitting prowess but question marks remained over his body surviving the rigours of international cricket.

Then earlier in January, Sharjeel was a part of a 10-day fitness camp conducted ahead of the final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final at the Punjab Football Stadium under the aegis of Pakistan's head coach Waqar Younis. He came out of that camp, fitter and mentally refreshed.

"The fitness camp in Punjab was a huge positive for me. I've been working really hard on my fitness," Sharjeel says. "I've now played 10 consecutive games in this tournament. The T20 is a short format but it really tests your energy levels. If I wasn't fit, I wouldn't have lasted these games."

With selectors said to be running out of patience with the erratic Ahmed Shhezad, Sharjeel had a golden opportunity to stake a claim to a World T20 berth at the PSL. He smashed a sparking 79 against Lahore Qalandars, his hitting power putting to shade even the mighty Shane Watson. But an inconsistent run either side of that innings meant that lone spot went to Khurram Manzoor.

"When I came to PSL for Dubai, I knew that if I did well in the first few games, there was a chance to make the World T20 squad," he concedes. "But my focus was only on performance. I can't keep thinking of consequences of my performance. If I do that, I'll only be bringing my morale down. My concern now is to how to translate my performances into victories for my team."

The timing of the hundred couldn't have been better for Sharjeel and the PSL. It comes at a time when Pakistan's T20I captain Shahid Afridi bemoaned the lack of quality young batsmen coming through from the tournament. With a century against Afridi's side, the 26-year-old may have just about put enough doubt in the selectors' minds.. To score a T20 hundred in itself takes some doing, but add to it the the pressure of a knock-out game and a top-quality bowling attack, the achievement assumes significant weightage.

Rumours are now rife that Pakistan Cricket Board would wait until the end of Asia Cup to finalise their squad for the World T20 and Afridi stoked the fire after the second qualifier by claiming that Sharjeel could receive 'a gift' for his knock.

Sharjeel knows now is not the time to get carried away. If he can follow up that 100 with a significant contribution in the final, he may still board that plane to India. As tough as it may be, he cannot allow himself to drift. The next game could end up being one of the most significant games in his career. He has a day to recover from the highs of his performance against Zalmi and prepare himself to start from zero once again on Tuesday.

"This is a great feeling. There was pressure but I was able to channelise it. When Afridi and the others came over to congratulate me after the innings, it felt very good. It was a huge confidence boost for me. Yes, it was my best T20 innings. I always hoped to score the first century in the PSL and it feels nice to have done so.

"If there is a 'gift', we'll all come to know soon. For now, I'm hoping I can repeat this again in the final. I can only work hard and hope that my team benefits from my performances," he sums up on a rather philosophical note.