by Saj Sadiq

28th February 2010

17 year old Raza Hasan was one of the stars of the Pakistan Under 19 World Cup team that performed so well in New Zealand, losing only in the final to Australia. He impressed many seasoned observers of the game with his accuracy, guile, variety and understanding of the game and many have already earmarked Raza as a bright star of the future.

The fairytale continued for Raza after the Under 19 World Cup, with a call up to the Pakistan "A" squad against the England Lions in the United Arab Emirates. Raza took 9 wickets in three matches against the England team and helped the Pakistan "A" team to a two matches to one victory in the three match series.

Speaking to PakPassion.net Raza described his early years in cricket growing up in Sialkot.

"My father was a really keen cricketer himself. He never played first class cricket, but played a lot of club cricket in Sialkot. My brother and I would watch him play and we would copy what we saw in those club matches. My brother was a fast bowler but unfortunately he also never got the opportunity to play first class cricket, although he played quite a bit of club and district cricket.

I started going to play in the local tape ball matches in Sialkot at the college ground in my early teens, where sometimes up to 3 or 4 matches are played in a day and where it's quite an achievment just to get into one of the teams. Often I would go to the College ground and just watch the action and not get selected, as there were far too many players already present. These were open tournaments and more players were at the ground than there were places available".

"Then my big break came when one of the match organisers at the College ground Mittu Bhai (Imtiaz Ahmed) spotted me and asked me to play for one of the teams there. Mittu bhai and the college ground are infamous in Sialkot for producing players like Shoaib Malik, Mansoor Amjad and Shahid Yousuf amongst others and I was honoured that he had given me a chance in the starting lineup for one of the teams."

"I continued to play matches at the College ground under the supervision of Mittu Bhai and I also started to play for CA Sports in Sialkot in local tournaments and playing at district Under 15 level for Sialkot region".

"In those early days I was a chinamen bowler, but when the coaches looked at my bowling, they said to my father that I should look to become an "orthodox" left arm spinner. I took on board their advice, but because I was a chinamen bowler in my early years, I am now comfortable bowling both varieties without any noticable change to my action".

"Ijaz Ahmed then spotted me playing in Sialkot in one of the tournaments there and he suggested that I go to the NCA in Lahore and work with him and the other coaches there. I always remember Ijaz's words when he took me to the NCA. He took me to one side and said that I had the ability and if I worked hard and believed in myself I would do very well in cricket. Those words from Ijaz continually ring in my ears and are a constant reminder to me".

Raza whilst attending the NCA for short spells also continued to represent Sialkot at junior level and in his two seasons playing for the Sialkot Under 19 team in the district competition, he took 33 and 28 wickets respectively. "I did very well at Under 19 level for Sialkot and playing in this competition was a big help for my development. We (Sialkot) reached the semi finals last season, only losing to the very strong NCA Under 19s team".

Raza is still upset that he did not return as an Under 19 World Champion from New Zealand, although he feels that he and his colleagues learnt so much from the experience. "We should have won the final, the score was reachable and our batsmen were going so well, but then we lost wickets and that generated pressure. You have to give credit to the opposition bowlers though, as they did very well to restrict us. The Under 19 World Cup experience was great and the attention to detail that Ijaz Ahmed and his staff paid to each match was a real eye opener. We would hold a 2 hour team meeting prior to each match, to ensure we all knew what the plan was and as bowlers we all knew about the opposition batsmen. We were told by Ijaz to fight to the end, fight for every wicket and fight for every run".

Raza feels that working with Ijaz Ahmed has been excellent for his development. "Of course I knew Ijaz from my days at the NCA and I was very happy that he was the coach for the Under 19 World Cup. He then called me up for the Pakistan "A" squad in Dubai and although I was a little surprised I wanted to give my all. Just being part of the Pakistan "A" squad would have been good enough for me, but then when I played the three fifty over matches and took nine wickets, that really boosted my confidence. Ijaz told me not to be nervous and told me to do what comes naturally to me. If a batsman hits you for a big shot, don't worry about it, just concentrate on your own game and try to out think the batsman".

Abdul Rehman was also part of the Pakistan "A" squad in the UAE and Raza felt that having a fellow left arm spinner in the squad definitely helped him. "Rehman is also from Sialkot and he helped me a lot with advice as he's an experienced cricketer himself. Again the attention to detail from the coaching staff for each match made it absolutely clear to all of us what was expected from us".

Raza has rather surprisingly not been selected for the Sialkot Stallions squad in the ongoing RBS Twenty/20 Cup and he admits that he's rather mystified at his omission. "Yes I'm surprised at the omission, as after being named in the 30 man provisional squad for the Twenty/20 World Cup, I would have thought that I would have made my way into at least one of the squads. But, never mind, lets see what happens".

Daniel Vettori and Monty Panesar are the left arm spinners that Raza likes to watch, but it's an off spinner that really inspires him. "Vettori and Panesar are excellent left arm spinners, but Murali is the bowler that I love watching. I have videos of him at home and they have been watched so many times that the tapes are almost worn. He's a great bowler and a real inspiration for me. Every time I watch the videos, there is something new to be learnt from watching the legendary Sri Lankan bowler".

Whilst Raza is making rapid progress, he feels that there is a lot of hard work ahead and areas that he needs to work on to improve further. "One of the main areas that I know I have to work on is my fitness. I need to build up my strength and levels of stamina. As a spinner you have to bowl long spells and I know that I need to improve my levels of stamina and fitness. I am working with the fitness staff at the NCA especially on lifting weights, long distance running and sprinting".

Raza's career has been boosted in the space of a few months, but his feet remain firmly on the ground. "I am a firm believer that if you work hard, respect your elders, look after your parents and offer prayers regularly, then you will succeed".