Sharjah: Ahmad Shehzad, the first Pakistan batsman to hit a century in all three formats of the game, wants selectors’ backing to come good with his abilities. He is seeking the kind of support that India’s Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and England’s Joe Root got during their struggling phase as batsmen.

As Quetta Gladiators opener, Shehzad had cracked 71 runs to bag the Man of the Match against Karachi Kings and helped his team win the match earlier this week. However, even that knock could not win him a place in the Pakistan team for the World Twenty20 team announced on Wednesday.

Speaking after his match-winning performance, Shehzad had said: “If you look at other countries, players who become good players whether it is Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan or Joe Root their 15 to 16 innings go down but the backing and the trust remains and hence their ability remains there. I think no one has a smooth career but once you see the ability he needs backing and needs one shoulder which can lift him, and that lift makes an ordinary player into a superstar player.”

Twenty-four-old Shehzad is one of Pakistan’s finest top order batsmen with three Test centuries, six One Day International tons and a century in Twenty20. “Look for the last three years in all three formats whenever I have played I put in all my effort. I have done whatever I can do for my country and you know I am still young. Four or five innings may go bad sometimes such times come in your career and that comes in every players’ career. If you look around the world, whoever became great they all had faced such situation. That’s the time when you should be shown the trust in the ability of the player for what he has done in the past.”

Shehzad had remarked his knock in PSL has not put any pressure on selectors. “I don’t think that I have put pressure on anyone by playing this knock. I will support the selectors, whatever they think is the best side.”

Shehzad is such a team man that he wants the best team to go for the oncoming ICC Twenty20 World Cup but right now he is enjoying the experience of being with the legendary Viv Richards as team mentor and Moin Khan, a shrewd coach. When Gulf News asked how was it to bat with Kevin Pietersen and be around with Richards and Moin, Shehzad said: “KP is a wonderful player and it is good to have him in the dressing room. Luke Wright is a team man, so we are lucky in the sense that all the pros have also good players and that is key to our success. Team’s atmosphere is great. We are all trying to play good cricket whether it is batting, bowling or fielding because PSL is seen worldwide.”