KARACHI: Pakistan’s young opening batsman Ahmed Shahzad claims that he has learnt some lessons from his past failures and is keen on making an impact both on and off the field now.

While Ahmed is representing Habib Bank in the ongoing Corporate Cup tournament in progress at the Moin Khan Academy ground in Karachi, the batsman spoke to media during his team’s match against the KESC the other day.

The discarded Lahore-born opener was left out of the team after the tour of the West Indies earlier this year where he scored a hundred in the second match of the One-day International series, yet failed to sustain his form in the remainder of the series won 3-2 by the tourists.

The 19-year-old has had a start-and-stop career thus far, in 19 appearances in the ODI format he has accumulated 477 runs at a moderate average of 26.50 runs. His tally includes two hundreds which were both scored this year; the first one was a hard-hitting 115 against New Zealand which sealed a series win for Pakistan.

However, inconsistency has remained his bane and Ahmed is determined to sort it out. “I have scored two hundreds in one-day cricket, yet I have not been consistent. Now, the aim is to be consistent and make my starts count whenever I am recalled to the national team,” he asserted.

In his short career thus far, the youngster has been accused of indiscipline by team management at both junior and national levels.

However, Ahmed claims he has never breached the code of conduct.

“Before the West Indies tour I had a one-on-one meeting with PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt. He told me that I was an asset for the team and he and the team management were keen on giving me an extended run, however “I was dropped from the team after the tour. The reports about my lack of discipline are not true. I will seek a clarification from the PCB officials soon and get my name cleared,” Ahmed stated.