At a very young age, left-handed Sami Aslam has already been marked as a potential future opener for Pakistan. A stellar performance in the recent U19 Asia Cup affirmed these suggestions, as Sami scored an incredible 461 runs in 5 innings, including two centuries against archrivals India, and also forged an excellent opening partnership with Babar Azam.

Sami’s first taste of regional cricket came in 2009 when he played for NCA Colts in a domestic U19 tournament. In that season he finished third highest run scorer in Pakistan at under 19 level. That was an under 19 World Cup year but was not considered due to his age and was told that he would be looked at for future tours. He has shown that he can also perform in the longer form of the game, scoring over 400 runs in 6 games (including an innings of 170) in 3-day cricket for Lahore under 19s. Sami made his debut for the senior Lahore eagles team in the national one-day cup in February 2012 and made 125 runs in 4 innings including a highest score of 73.

Sami’s father played for State Bank of Pakistan, and it was because of him that Sami started playing cricket. His age means that he constantly has to balance his cricket training with education at GC University. His cricketing hero is Saeed Anwar, and he is also a fan of Suresh Raina.

Last updated on: 31st October 2012