Fresh from blasting 150 from only 184 deliveries for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province against Baluchistan in the Pentangular Cup, Yasir Hameed spoke to PakPassion.net about the highly rated fast bowler Rahat Ali, as well as his own ambitions for an international recall.

By Saj Sadiq (14th February, 2012)

Fresh from blasting 150 from only 184 deliveries for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province against Baluchistan in the Pentangular Cup, Yasir Hameed spoke to PakPassion.net about the highly rated fast bowler Rahat Ali, as well as his own ambitions for an international recall.

23 year old Rahat who is from Multan has burst onto the selector's radar after an impressive performance in the Quaid E Azam Trophy, where the 6 foot 2" left armer took 44 wickets at only 17.45 for Khan Research Laboratories in 9 matches. Despite making his first class debut in 2007, this season has been the one where Rahat has really found consistency and form.

One selector recently stated to PakPassion that "Rahat was known to the selection committee and they will be monitoring his progress with interest, but he is competing with several others for a fast bowling spot."

Hameed who has 15 years of experience in first class cricket stated that "Whilst Rahat went wicketless today, he impressed me greatly with his control. Today was the first time I have faced him and I liked what I saw. He was bowling within himself at around 135kph and whilst he did not move the ball around greatly, he troubled the batsmen he bowled to."

Hameed was of the opinion that despite only seeing him for the first time today Rahat impressed him so much that he feels that he has the ability to forge an international future.

"Sometimes you can see that there is a certain something about a bowler. Over the years I have seen the likes of Mohammad Amir, Shoaib Akhtar and others and one could tell there was something special about them. Now I am not comparing Rahat with Amir or Shoaib, but I do think he has all the basics, looks like he has immense talent and could eventually be a star of the future."

Hameed added "Rahat is a little bit raw but that is to be expected. He has only played 20 or so first class matches and he is by no means the finished article, but word has been going around on the domestic cricket scene about Rahat and he has impressed everyone with his efforts so far. He just needs to carry on working hard, improving his bowling and continue to keep on learning about the art of fast bowling and fine tune a few things."

Hameed speaking of his own form added "I will never give up hope of an international recall. I've scored a century today and have been scoring runs consistently in domestic cricket this season. I feel I am in good form and of course it's down to the selectors to pick who they want. I still feel that I can perform well in international cricket whenever the opportunity arises. Misbah has shown that age is no barrier and I am fit enough for the rigors of international cricket."