Exclusive: When a three-year-old Abdullah Shafique surprised his father

World Cup debutant Abdullah Shafique took the pundits by surprise with a majestic hundred (113 off 103 balls), inspiring Pakistan to pull off a record chase against Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

Shafique's stirring 176-run third-wicket partnership with Mohammad Rizwan (131 not out) lifted Pakistan from 37 for two to the highest successful run-chase (345) in World Cup history.

Such was the maturity shown by Shafique that it was hard to imagine he was playing his first match in a World Cup.

What's more remarkable is that Pakistan's Test opener also lacks experience in the one-day format, having only played eight 50 overs matches before the Sri Lanka game.

And yet, when Pakistan were gasping for breath after the fall of Babar Azam and Imam Ul Haq on Tuesday, it was the 23-year-old batsman who set the tempo for the team.

With his classical shot-making, Shafique allowed the more experienced Rizwan to get used to the pace of the wicket before the wicketkeeper-batter came into his own.

So why did it take so long for Pakistan's team management to give more opportunities to Shafique in limited-overs cricket?

Perhaps, it's easy to overlook players who play with unhurried grace in today's fast-paced cricket world where ramp shots and switch hits earn you instant stardom.

But there would always be a place for players of his ilk in any format of the game.

And he proved that beautifully on a true surface in Hyderabad, using his feet to the spinners for the big shots and relying on his touch-play against the pacers, caressing the ball to the boundary ropes.

It was a sight to behold for the cricketing purists who were surprised by the temperament and skills displayed by Shafique on his World Cup debut.

It was the same way Shafique had once surprised his father, Shafiq Ahmed, when he was only three.

The little Shafique would hold a small bat, keep his head still and move onto the front foot for a shot to an imaginary ball.

Ahmed, a former first-class cricketer in Pakistan who has been coaching at the GEMS Modern Academy school in Dubai since 2003, had never seen a three-year-old shadow practice like a professional.

"I have played first-class cricket in Pakistan, I have seen a lot of cricket, but I have never seen such a small kid shadow practice like that," Ahmed, during an interview with Khaleej Times last August, revealed when he first saw the talent for cricket in his son, the eldest of his three children.

Ahmed has produced more than 20 international cricketers for the UAE, but Abdullah Shafique remains his greatest creation.

"He was always a quick learner. In fact, the first season he played in the domestic under-19 tournament, he scored two hundreds and he was selected for the Pakistan under-19 team. He was only 16 when he played for the Pakistan under-19 team,” said Ahmed when this reporter asked him to dissect his son's meteoric rise in Test cricket.

Shafique has made over 1200 runs in just 14 Test matches for Pakistan at a superb average of 50.83 with four hundreds, including a double.

Now no one will be surprised if he replicates his Test form in one-day internationals!

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