Mohammad Talha talks exclusively to PP about the work he's doing at the NCA and about Aamer and Shazaib's inclusion in the T20 squad.

Abdul Habib

I called Mohammad Talha earlier today to catch up on what he's been doing since his debut, here's what he had to say...



Talha is currently staying at the NCA in Lahore where he is working closely with Aamir Sohail and the NCA coaches on flaws that came to light during his test match debut. Talha said that he and Mohammad Irfan were both getting targeted training and had become good friends too. He said that Irfan had told him all about PakPassion.Net's role in his discovery and that we were doing a good job for Pakistani cricket.

He said that Irfan was a good fast bowler who would trouble batsmen with his awkward bounce but he also added that Irfan needs some exposure at first class level to fully mature his bowling.

When asked about his own training at the NCA, Talha said "The work I'm doing here at the NCA is centered around my runup and jump. I've been told that I do a double jump at the end of my runup and that I also lean back before release. The leaning back puts me off balance and kills any momentum that I build during my runup. Aamir bhai has said that I need to be leaning forward at release which will add more power into the delivery. Myself and Irfan have two daily bowling sessions that are overseen by Aamir bhai, the first one is between 11am and 1pm whilst the second one is between 3pm and 6pm."

Talha then added "Aamir bhai is also teaching us about seam position and the sort of tricks guys like Wasim, Ambrose, Waqar, Walsh and Marshall used to use to outwit the batsmen. It's a real education talking to him about cricket."

When asked about whether he had recently been clocked at the NCA, Talha said that he was there to work on the flaws in his runup and that was the priority for him right now. Talha also mentioned that he was supposed to come to the UK this summer to play league cricket but that he'd cancelled his plans because it was more important for him to stay in Pakistan and get his runup perfect.

About his no ball problem Talha said "It's all to do with getting the runup right, the double jump that I was doing was causing me to overstep the crease as well. Plus I was playing that test match with a fever so my balance wasn't as good as it normally is. Maybe I should've sat the match out but I didn't want lose the opportunity before me of a test match debut in Pakistan so I went ahead and played anyway. In international cricket you have to take any opportunity whenever it comes because you never know if the chance will come again"

He seemed genuinely surprised when I told him that fans on PP thought that his runup was a little slow and when I asked him about Aamer's inclusion in the T20 squad over his own he was pleased for Aamer.
He told me "Aamer and I both play for the same department and he's a very gifted bowler who has earned the call up based on his performances. Obviously I'm disappointed that I wasn't selected myself but I guess in the long run it's better if I fully fix my problems before I return to the Pakistan side."

When I suggested that by this time next year Aamer and Talha could be opening the bowling for Pakistan as well as their domestic side he was genuinely pleased and said that would be great as they both bowl well in tandem. Talha was also really interested on PPers views about other upcoming Pakistani bowlers like the two Sohails (Khan and Tanvir).

When I asked him about the selection of Shazaib Hasan, he said "Shazaib and I played for the same department and he is a very good batsman, his batting is very aggressive and he loves hitting fours and sixes. Talha said that he felt Shazaib would perform well if selected.

Talha also said he'd like to thank all of you PPers for your support of him (I told him how much we all follow his career) and he promises that Insha Allah he will fix his problems and be back stronger than ever!