Ignored for selection in the latest edition of the Pentangular Cup which represents the last chance for players to bring them into contention for the upcoming World Cup, Sadaf Hussain spoke exclusively to PakPassion.net about his disappointment with his career progress so far but expressed his determination to continue working hard to achieve his dreams of selection for Pakistan.

By Saj Sadiq (1st January,2014)

Pakistan is a country blessed with an abundance of talent in most walks of life and sports is no different. It is therefore no surprise that the history of Pakistan cricket is awash with fantastic stories of players who have been plucked from obscurity and thrust into the limelight simply based on talent alone. Exceptions apart, it is also a fact that the selection of players for the international level cannot be relied upon on just talent alone and the honour to represent Pakistan must be based upon consistent performances in domestic and international cricket.

One such example of a player who has been knocking at the doors of selection due to solid achievements in the field is the twenty five year old left-arm pacer, Sadaf Hussain. A First Class bowling average of 18.30 which is based upon 247 wickets taken in 51 matches, and a List A haul of 36 wickets in 20 games does make Sadaf a perfect contender for selection to the highest levels. 

Ignored for selection in the latest edition of the Pentangular Cup which represents the last chance for players to bring them into contention for the upcoming World Cup, Sadaf Hussain spoke exclusively to PakPassion.net about his disappointment with his career progress so far but expressed his determination to continue working hard to achieve his dreams of selection for Pakistan.

A First Class bowling haul of 247 wickets in which he has taken five wickets on 20 occasions and ten wickets in a match on five occasions is not a record which can be scoffed at and this is a source of great concern for the talented bowler as he states “Whenever I have been given the chance to play cricket at any level I have performed and never let anyone down. My statistics are there for everyone to see and those statistics have not been achieved through good luck, rather hard work and perseverance.” 

As with most cricketers playing the game professionally in Pakistan, cricket is not simply a matter of playing a sport but also has major financial implications given that most cricketers have limited opportunities to earn outside the sport itself and Sadaf has been giving serious thought to this issue as well “In Pakistan, if you don't play you don't get paid, it's as simple as that. That can be very tough on your family if you aren't being selected as we all have families to support. Of late I have thought about giving up cricket altogether as it's very difficult to make ends meet at the moment. These days I have started to look at an alternative career. I won't make any rash decisions about my cricketing future and plans to continue playing cricket, but I'm keeping all of my options open,” he adds.

The recently concluded Quaid-e-Azam tournament (Silver) was another successful display of Sadaf’s capabilities where he picked up 36 wickets in seven matches, with 5/31 and 8/79 as his best figures in an innings and a match respectively. Sadaf for his part is looking for the selectors to recognize his worth based upon his performances alone and fails to understand why he is still unable to impress the selectors and is also concerned about some other players who are being preferred even though their domestic performances are clearly below par.

“I don't want any special treatment from anyone, I just want to be treated fairly and equally and expect some recognition for my consistent performances. Not only have I been ignored for international selection I have now been ignored for the Pentangular Cup despite taking thirty six wickets at under eighteen apiece in the Quaid-e-Azam tournament. It's difficult to comprehend what's going on. The confusion surrounding selection is that there are players playing in the Pentangular Cup who haven't performed at all for many years yet are included, but others who have performed on a regular basis but have not been picked for any of the teams. I hope this situation is resolved as there a number of cricketers in Pakistan who are very disillusioned by this.”

To many, Pakistan cricket would have lost a great prospect if the disappointment experienced by Sadaf becomes a reason for his departure from all forms of cricket. Regardless of the setbacks and fortunately for Pakistan, Sadaf has not lost all hope and wishes to overcome adversity by continuing to work diligently with the hope that better sense will prevail in future selection decisions.

“Yes, there are ups and downs for every professional sportsperson but when you keep on receiving knockbacks it's not easy to keep on going. I'm just really disappointed and disillusioned with what's happening in terms of selection. In the meantime I will continue to do what I have been doing throughout my career whenever I have been picked and that is to perform and take wickets and hope that domestic and the national selectors take note.”

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