From Hub to Karachi, then PSL and stardom
PHOTO COURTESY: emirates247.com
DUBAI: With the Pakistan Super League (PSL) just a few days old, certain players have already started to flaunt their potential, and Peshawar Zalmi’s Mohammad Asghar is chief among them.
Asghar, a classy left-arm spinner, has earned praise from both fans and experts with some eye-catching performances in the PSL so far.
The youngster, however, is still feeling star-struck. “I can’t believe that I am playing with such big names,” he told
The Express Tribune. “It’s an honour for me.”
Asghar is excited about the learning opportunities on offer. “I’ve already learnt a lot in these two matches and I would try to pick [up] more in the upcoming days,” he said. “I am looking to emulate the big players.”
Hailing from the far-flung area of Hub in Balochistan, Asghar showed his potential in Peshawar’s opening match against Islamabad United; picking up three wickets and taking a couple of impressive catches as well.
A video of Asghar claiming that the ball never pops out once it falls into the hands of a Pathan, only for it to do so a couple in the very next match, became an instant hit online. However, he also impressed in that match, against Lahore Qalandars, as he took two wickets and gave away only 11 in his four overs.
Asghar was an unknown commodity until he was picked up by Iqbal Qasim, while playing in Hub.
“Qasim was invited as the chief guest in a tournament final, where he saw me bowl and he asked me to come to the NBP academy,” revealed Asghar. “When I went there, he supported me and so did Ishaq Patel, who was looking after the players.”
The jump up, however, did not faze the left-arm spinner. “I did well in my first two years for NBP U19s, picking up 25 and 40 wickets respectively, but then U19 departmental teams were shut down,” he said. “I played for Karachi U19s and took 50 wickets, leading to a call-up to the Pakistan U19 side, along with first-class cricket.”
Asghar’s journey had not been easy till then. “It was very difficult to play in Hub as there were no facilities,” he recalled. “We had no grounds with grass on them, while the cement pitches had big cracks. When I used to bowl, my feet wouldn’t land properly.”
He had to travel to Karachi to play cricket on proper facilities. “I only practiced for two days in Hub. The other days, I would drive to Karachi on my motorcycle. It used to take me more than an hour to get there.”
When money was hard to come by, he borrowed from a nearby store in order to travel to Karachi and would return it once his father gave him money.
But soon travelling stopped being feasible so he started living in a local club’s ground in Karachi, Young Fighter, refusing to give up on his dream. There he would roll the pitch and tend to the grass on the ground in order to earn some money for himself and make ends meet.
“I couldn’t afford to travel to Karachi so I started living at Young Fighter along with another player,” he said. “But now all that is behind me. I want to keep doing well in order to give the national selectors a decision to make.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 8th, 2016.
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