Don't need anyone's appreciation: Shafiq

Test batsman Asad Shafiq is not concerned about whether people appreciate the value of his resilient 76-run knock which took Pakistan to 240 in the first innings against Australia at the opening day of the Brisbane Test on Thursday.

Shafiq offered most resistance to the barrage from the Australian pace battalion with a fine knock before he was ousted by a Cummins delivery that removed his middle stump.

While speaking at the press conference after the end of day’s play, the middle-order batsman said that his primary focus is to perform for his country.

"I'm not worried about my performances being underrated or underplayed as playing for Pakistan is an honour for me,” said Shafiq. “I don't need anyone else's appreciation, if I am playing for Pakistan, that's enough for me."

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The 33-year-old believes that Pakistan has a competitive total on the board and their bowlers can put up a good challenge against Australian batsmen.

"We didn't reach the total we wanted, but we got a respectable total. With the bowling unit we have, we'll put up a good fight," he said. "The position we were in, 240 is a good score. It's not easy for batting if we bowl in good areas, we can get wickets with the new ball.”

“We need to give credit to the Australian bowlers, they gave no freebies especially with the new ball so we couldn't score freely," he added.

Shafiq was happy to find an able ally in lower-order batsman Yasir Shah as they stitched an 84-run stand.

"We lost quick wickets in the middle order so I was trying to build a partnership and bat deep. By coincidence, it's again here (in Brisbane) and I'm performing well,” he said. "Yasir batted really well, we were in trouble and needed a partnership. We knew that and he responded well and the partnership helped us."