[VIDEOS] Talent Spotter: Akif Javed

[The Viper]

A profile of an exciting young fast-bowler from Karak, who put in some impressive displays for Balochistan recently in the National T20 Cup.





Name: Akif Javed

Born: October 10, 2000, Karak

Major teams: Balochistan

Batting style: Right-hand bat

Bowling style: Left-arm medium-fast

Height: 6ft 1in


Interest in cricket

Karak is not that well developed as a town and the facilities aren’t that great for playing cricket, so all I could do was play tennis ball cricket in the streets in my area and I did excel in that style of cricket. A friend advised me to pursue a career in cricket, so I started to think along those lines. But I had a problem; as a family, we weren’t that well-off and I used to help my late father run a small shop in our area. I had to hide my love for the game from my father and used to play cricket without telling him. I am always thankful to The Almighty that He helped me through my tough times to pursue my passion for cricket.


A late introduction to hard-ball cricket in 2018

I played no hard-ball cricket due to the fact that I could not leave Karak because of my family’s financial problems, but in 2018, I got a chance to participate in trials for Karachi Kings held in Dera Ismail Khan for the 2019 edition of the PSL. I had seen the announcement on Facebook and this was my first proper experience with hard-ball cricket so I went there and my bowling was clocked at 145 KpH. Seeing that I could do so well with the hard-ball in hand, I started to feel that I should now start playing this form of cricket.


Disappointment of missing out on PSL in 2019

Due to my fast-bowling skills at the trials, I was being considered as a favourite for being picked by Karachi Kings firstly for the Emerging category and then as the 21st player for PSL in 2019, but unfortunately, I was not chosen for either. This was because, as Wasim Akram who is president of Karachi Kings told me, the PSL side needed a spinner as they had enough fast-bowlers on-board and so they decided to choose Umer Khan. This was a disappointment for me, but I left it in the hands of The Almighty and decided to move on. For Umer Khan, as we all saw, this was an amazing experience and I do wish him all the best for the future.


Playing club cricket and bowling 146KpH deliveries!

Fired up by my desire to play hard-ball cricket, I joined the Model Cricket Academy in Peshawar in 2019. In March of 2019, I was invited to attend the NCA Remote Areas Programme at the Jamrud Cricket Stadium where fast-bowlers were given a chance to impress the NCA Coaches. At this camp, I was the fastest bowler on display, clocking 146 KpH. I was then invited to attend the Skills Development Camp for Fast-Bowlers in the NCA in Lahore in April 2019 where the coaches found some issues with my action and worked extremely hard with me to fix these problems. During this time, I also received a lot of appreciation for my style of bowling from Mudassar Nazar which was very satisfying for me.


The Emerging Players High Performance Camp at the NCA and experience of working with Misbah-ul-Haq

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Emerging Players High Performance Camp at the NCA in June this year. The Pakistan Head Coach-Chief Selector Misbah-ul-Haq, was at that time busy working with the senior players but he also spent some time with us and I really enjoyed working with him during that period. Misbah-ul-Haq really liked my bowling and then picked me for the Balochistan side for both the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the National T20 Cup.


Rise in fame from the National T20 Cup (2019)

When I started off in the National T20 Cup in 2019, Haris Sohail was my captain and he had previously seen me bowl at the Gaddafi Stadium. He was very impressed by my bowling and put a lot of faith me. I was also encouraged a lot by the rest of the side and when I started to take wickets of some very established players such as Umar Akmal, Shan Masood, Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Amin and Shoaib Malik, they were really happy as were my parents back home.


Shoaib Akhtar as my role model and bowling quick

My role model has always been Shoaib Akhtar as I always wanted to bowl fast like him, but he was a right-armer so then I decided to model myself on Mohammad Amir. I had the chance to meet Mohammad Amir during the Emerging Players Camp where he taught me a few varieties. I also had the chance to talk to Wahab Riaz and Usman Khan Shinwari during that same time and they all said to me that I had the talent but needed to work harder to achieve my goals. My favourite wicket-taking delivery is the in-swinger but I do like bowling a good yorker too. Currently, I can maintain a speed of 140KpH in my bowling and can go up to 145KpH, and I am hoping to increase this further in the future.


Aspirations to play PSL and Test cricket for Pakistan

I am currently representing Pakistan in the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup and hoping to do well for my country. I am also very hopeful of playing in the next edition of the PSL after my performances in the National T20 Cup. I know that I had some issues with my fitness before but now I am in much better shape and it's my wish that in the future I will become good enough to represent Pakistan in Test matches.

[Titan24]

Thanks guys for bringing interview of another young and talented cricketer.

In national T20 cup he definitely looked to be around 140kph and its good to know that he can go upto mid 140s. Really smooth run up, action along with bit of natural swing, so a lot of potential to work with.

Hopefully he gets a chance in the PSL 2020 as he definitely looks to be one of the best emerging picks.

[Amirforpresident]

[I]A
I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Emerging Players High Performance Camp at the NCA in June this year. The Pakistan Head Coach-Chief Selector Misbah-ul-Haq, was at that time busy working with the senior players but he also spent some time with us and I really enjoyed working with him during that period. Misbah-ul-Haq really liked my bowling and then picked me for the Balochistan side for both the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the National T20 Cup.

Very good Misbah bhai

[aloo paratha]

Really like the look of this guy, hope to see more of him in the U19 WC.

Our fast bowling talent is now looking really good. Shaheen, Naseem, Hasnain, Akif, Sameen all looking like they can be longtime servants for Pakistan in different formats.

[Abdullah719]

.

[The Viper]

Very good Misbah bhai

Misbah using his influence well it seems.

Hopefully he can make more calls like this in the future.

Looks like a top prospect Akif and he has done really well considering he just started hard ball cricket in 2018.

[Amirforpresident]

Misbah using his influence well it seems.

Hopefully he can make more calls like this in the future.

Looks like a top prospect Akif and he has done really well considering he just started hard ball cricket in 2018.

Yeah really impressive from Akif

[MenInG]

The Akif story is about passion for cricket - he did not play hard-ball cricket until almost 18!

[Rathore]

How old is he?

[Abdullah719]

How old is he?

19.

[Xoib]

Looks mid 130's to me in the videos unlike the 140 plus claims being made

[Abdullah719]

Looks mid 130's to me in the videos unlike the 140 plus claims being made

He said he clocked 146kph at a camp, not that he bowls 140+ regularly. Only the very fastest clock 140+ regularly, or on average.

[SensiblePakFan]

Good interview.

[Saj]

Very impressed with this lad considering the small amount of cricket he has played so far.

Good pace, moves the ball and has the basic skills to develop.

[Titan24]

Akif Javed selected for IU.

[SensiblePakFan]

Good for him.

[Abdullah719]

Included in NCA camp, good opportunity for him to get accustomed to the demands of professional cricket since he's pretty new to the scene.

[MenInG]

Akif Javed photographed training with Pakistan T20I squad in the practice game at GSL

[minamino]

Why is this guy not in U19WC squad?

[Titan24]

Why is this guy not in U19WC squad?

He could have been as he is 19 years old. Might be something to do with the fact that he hasnt been part of the set up for long and it wasn’t long ago he came into limelight. So maybe the U19 team management wanted to stick with the players which have been part of U19 setup for couple of years.

[Saj]

Why is this guy not in U19WC squad?

Doesn't look under 19 to me.

But a good opportunity for him to be at these training camps at the NCA.

[IAJ]

How is this lad’s progress going? Will he play in PSL?

[Saj]

How is this lad’s progress going? Will he play in PSL?

He's been training with the Pakistan squad ahead of the T20I series and I know the coaches were impressed with his attitude and work.

[Monsee]

Very impressive with his ability to create late swing and a wise head beyond his age, doubly impressive since he barely just started bowling with the cricket ball in his career. If managed well, and after a bit of fine tuning with Waqar and other coaches, he can even be a good one to take to the T20 as a surprise package like Amir was in the 2009 T20 WC!

[IAJ]

He's been training with the Pakistan squad ahead of the T20I series and I know the coaches were impressed with his attitude and work.

That is a very good start, you can reach many hights only by these two in place. Hope he keeps working hard. Thanks for the reply.

[JibranAnsari]

Needs to use his height well , almost all Pakistani tall pacemen lack this quality.

[Thunderbolt14]

Selected for the Shaheens MCC match

[as-95]

He's been training with the Pakistan squad ahead of the T20I series and I know the coaches were impressed with his attitude and work.

Good to hear... Following this lad very keenly and it would be good to get another tall pacer in our ranks to compliment Shaheen and Naseem. Hard work can take you very far so lets see if he can surpass Hasnain as the potential third seamer with his hard work and commitment...

[MenInG]

Akif Javed making PSL debut....

[shamaan]

Excellent bowling spell with control and decent pace and movement keep it up

[Bewal Express]

Doesn't look under 19 to me.

But a good opportunity for him to be at these training camps at the NCA.

If I was being honest, he looks around 24

[Salman4.]

Could be in for Amir.

[shamaan]

Could be in for Amir.

Wow if that's true that would be good hes excellent new bowler needs to improve in death thou

[Bewal Express]

I would like to see him and Dilbar on the tour.

[Mueez]

He looks very promising. I hope he will learn a lot from Waqar if he is on the plane to England.

[MoFresh23]

I would like to see him and Dilbar on the tour.

It's to early for Dilbar to get selected for this tour. He had an alright PSL. He played in the Big Bash and got smacked around for sixes. Tbh with you I dont find Dilbar to be an extraordinary player. Akif on the other has potential to be a world class bowler. He knows how to swing the ball. He would learn alot and benefit in English conditions. Wont be surprised if Akif gets selected for this tour

[Bewal Express]

It's to early for Dilbar to get selected for this tour. He had an alright PSL. He played in the Big Bash and got smacked around for sixes. Tbh with you I dont find Dilbar to be an extraordinary player. Akif on the other has potential to be a world class bowler. He knows how to swing the ball. He would learn alot and benefit in English conditions. Wont be surprised if Akif gets selected for this tour

He is 27 and its now or never. The guy has something and needs to be tested at the higher level. I also like Akif and would like him to be on the tour.

[MenInG]

Looking forward to seeing him play in the National T20 - marked as one of the top 6 players to watch by PCB!

[MenInG]

Balochistan Head Coach Faisal Iqbal has named left-arm fast bowler Akif Javed as a player with immense potential who has the opportunity to further build his growing reputation. The Kohat-born pacer represented Islamabad United in the HBL PSL 2020 and played for Balochistan in last year’s National T20 Cup First XI tournament. The 19-year-old has picked 13 wickets in as many T20 games with a best return of three for 16.

Faisal Iqbal: “Akif is an exceptional talent and we want to provide him a real opportunity of expressing his skills for which the management will fully back him. We will have a strategy in place for him and utilise his services accordingly. Akif can learn a lot in the entire season starting with the National T20 Cup in the company of two seasoned fast bowlers Umar Gul and Umaid Asif who can surely mentor him and help him further his skills which can in turn help his growth as a future prospect.”

[shamaan]

Looking forward to seeing him play in the National T20 - marked as one of the top 6 players to watch by PCB!

Defo is someone to look foward to the inswing he gets is mental

[Saj]

Good variety today 3-35 in a very high scoring match.

[Ahmed216]

Has always looked better than Naseem to me

[Ahmed216]

Has always looked better than Naseem to me

[aloo paratha]

Want to see him play more FC, I think he can be a fantastic test match bowler, while being a decent ODI and T20 bowler.

[Rana]

Top bowler. He will be a good bowler for Pak. Someone who looks like he can swing the ball at 140k+

[MenInG]

Done well in this game vs KP for Balochistan

2/20 in 4 overs.

[shah_1]

He is the best prospect for red ball cricket because of his ablity to swing the ball both ways at a decent pace and also he is 6 foot plus. He just needs bowling desplince and bowl closer to the stump for his inswinger and outswinger to be more effective.

[Pacy with wisdom]

He is an extremely gifted bowler. Just effortless pace and a natural wrist. But he needs to use his right side much better if he is to use his inswing better.

He has the wrists to swing it both ways, but that open core and the fact that he doesnt drive his right side through till the end of the action means, his inswingers dont start from the right handers off stump, which is why he sometimes bowl so many 4 legs side wides, which although do swing, but are not aimed correctly.

[Titan24]

Skill wise he was impressive straight away when saw his first over in National T20 2019 Cup but this year to back that he has shown excellent temperament as well to learn and keep on getting better. Hopefully he will play atleast 7-8 FC matches in QAE this season or with Pak A and can maintain good fitness over the season as well.

[shah_1]

He is an extremely gifted bowler. Just effortless pace and a natural wrist. But he needs to use his right side much better if he is to use his inswing better.

He has the wrists to swing it both ways, but that open core and the fact that he doesnt drive his right side through till the end of the action means, his inswingers dont start from the right handers off stump, which is why he sometimes bowl so many 4 legs side wides, which although do swing, but are not aimed correctly.

Is he the most talented fast bowler we have in term of skills?

[Markhor]

He is an extremely gifted bowler. Just effortless pace and a natural wrist. But he needs to use his right side much better if he is to use his inswing better.

He has the wrists to swing it both ways, but that open core and the fact that he doesnt drive his right side through till the end of the action means, his inswingers dont start from the right handers off stump, which is why he sometimes bowl so many 4 legs side wides, which although do swing, but are not aimed correctly.

Good explanation. I really like Akif as he looks a skilful and intelligent bowler. Is it me though or is Akif's jump rather strange ? It looks like a vertical jump as opposed to a horizontal jump - will that affect his pace ?

[Pacy with wisdom]

Is he the most talented fast bowler we have in term of skills?

He is right up there. Probably has the most fluid and natural actions of all the youngsters coming up.

A little improvement in the areas i have highlighted will make his technique ( I say technique, not his bowling) world class because he will have all the attacking skills in his repertoire. Then it will just be a matter of mental skills and how much he can grow in that department.

[Pacy with wisdom]

Good explanation. I really like Akif as he looks a skilful and intelligent bowler. Is it me though or is Akif's jump rather strange ? It looks like a vertical jump as opposed to a horizontal jump - will that affect his pace ?

in the new age, we hardly see bowlers with such pronounced vertical jumps because the landing impact puts a lot of stress on the joints.

This is why Energy through the crease is the preferred option, as it just involves a smooth channeling of energy from runup to follow through.
Recently, even Starc has slightly reduced the little little leap he had in the past and is relying on momentum transfer (compare his 2019 action vs Pakistan to the one when we toured in 2016)

Akif is young and he probably doesn't feel it right now, but overtime, especially when he starts playing 4 day cricket regularly, will have to cut it down, and instead replace it with a more forward channeling gather.
And yes, he is losing pace because of this as well as the lack if drive with his right side.
He can easily gain 8-10 kph.

As i have mentioned earlier, he has a lot of natural ability and you can just see that with how fast he snaps his action and how smooth his arm path is.
A few tweaks here and there, and there is a potential world beater there.

[Muhammad Saad]

He is among the top 3 Pacers right now when it comes to just raw pace , He is right up there with Naseem and Shaheen in terms of skill set , probably more mentally stronger than Naseem and Shaheen as well , but he is just more raw than them. I think this years domestic cricket will prove it that he is the only 140k+ bowler that can swing it both ways.

[Saj]

I've been very impressed with him throughout the National T20 Cup tournament.

He has got a good head on young shoulders and knows what he's doing with the ball. He has good variety too and will only get better.

8 wickets at a good economy rate of 7.34 is pretty good.

[FreePalestine]

Looking forward to seeing him play in the National T20 - marked as one of the top 6 players to watch by PCB!

Who were the other five?

[The Viper]

Who were the other five?

Have a look here:
http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/sh...tional-T20-Cup

[Thunderbolt14]

I don’t want to write him off but he looks far from finished right now. Needs at least 2 more years from the looks of it, and not sure how much quality bowling advice he is getting (if any).

[silent ischemia]

The moment I saw him bowling for IU against QG in the first game of IPL season 6, I said that this bowler has something about him. He has a smooth bowling action and can swing the ball both ways.

[MenInG]

Akif is injured.

[Third Man]

Don't know what happened there, and why he pulled out of the delivery, but that looked rather painful.

[Pacy with wisdom]

I would put this down to the evil eye lol.
He was looking a million dollars today; pace, bounce and swing, everything was there and wasim was going gaga over him.

[Titan24]

Was able to walk himself out of the field which was a positive sign. Hopefully nothing serious.

[Khan12]

I would put this down to the evil eye lol.
He was looking a million dollars today; pace, bounce and swing, everything was there and wasim was going gaga over him.

Lmao. i thought the same. Wasim the culprit. Been talking rubbish so have carried on.

[Markhor]

Really hope he hasn't picked up a serious injury.

[Pacy with wisdom]

Really hope he hasn't picked up a serious injury.

Did you watch him bowl today?

[Deewana Mastana]

Quite a few bowlers looked alright in this T20 format but like Waqar said to Wasim yesterday that in T20's even the mediocre ones would look pretty good because it is a shorter game and they all have to do is bowl 4 overs.

I personally have been saying the same thing for years too that judging someone on the basis of T20's is not right as it is how they do in the 4 day domestic arena is where bowlers are made and found out.

Wasim was quite impressed by Akif, Khurram Shehzad and Ilyas but it all comes down to the skills in the 4 day game and that is exactly what Waqar was saying.

[Markhor]

Did you watch him bowl today?

Not today as I had to nip outside, but from what I've seen of Akif he looks a very skilful prospect with good bowling intelligence for someone still quite raw. With his height and the possibility of adding more pace if he sorts out his jump, there's real potential.

For a left arm seamer, he's actually done the hard part of being able to swing the ball into right-handers.

In the Multan leg, he was generally expensive in his first over but recovered well in his second spells. I think with a couple of seasons of 4 day cricket he'll only improve in terms of control and accuracy.

[Pacy with wisdom]

Not today as I had to nip outside, but from what I've seen of Akif he looks a very skilful prospect with good bowling intelligence for someone still quite raw. With his height and the possibility of adding more pace if he sorts out his jump, there's real potential.

For a left arm seamer, he's actually done the hard part of being able to swing the ball into right-handers.

In the Multan leg, he was generally expensive in his first over but recovered well in his second spells. I think with a couple of seasons of 4 day cricket he'll only improve in terms of control and accuracy.

He looked tremendous today; made Sharjeel and Shafiq look like schoolboys. Pace, bounce swing and had Wasim going gaga over him.
As i have mentioned above, it looked like the evil eye did him in.
Anyhow, he is a word class talent, but it is a question of how he is handled.
I wish he was educated though, because guys like him from humble backgrounds, with little education are a lottery despite their talent.

[Thunderbolt14]

Can I get a video of his spell? I missed it today.

[zacattakk]

I would put this down to the evil eye lol.
He was looking a million dollars today; pace, bounce and swing, everything was there and wasim was going gaga over him.

Haha thats what we were thinking. Those initial deliveries were great. Then Wasim started praising him. Next thing you know he sprays 3 balls horribly down the leg side and in the next over he was injured. "Nazar lag gae hai".

[shamaan]

Very good bowler a year or 2 in domestic will help him a big deal can seing the ball both ways and has the height

[naseem]

Very good......have height can swing the bowl ....I will like him to play atleast 2 years in domestic.....can be given a go in t20s but not now may be after 1 year......he needs to develop some mass.....

[MenInG]

Unfortunate for Akif:

Akif Javed, who sustained a knee injury during his side’s match against Sindh on 11 October, has been replaced by Taj Wali, who took six wickets in five matches at 21.83 of the Second XI National T20 Cup.

[shamaan]

Well done to akif javed even thou hes injuired hes been superb

[MenInG]

Akif not playing in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy as still recovering from injury

[KingOfPakBreakfast]

When he went down with that injury in the t20 cup, I immediately thought, that looks like a ligament injury. I really hope that's not the case. If so, then he's out for an extended period of time

[shamaan]

Does anyone know the type of injury it is to his knees is it a Meniscal tear or is it a tendon tear or something else ?

[shah_1]

Does anyone know the type of injury it is to his knees is it a Meniscal tear or is it a tendon tear or something else ?

According to a journalist, it is an ACL.

6 to 9 months out. Extremely sad news

[Titan24]

According to a journalist, it is an ACL.

6 to 9 months out. Extremely sad news

6 to 9 months recovery is if the ACL requires surgery.

Balochistan coach Faisal Iqbal replied to the journalist and said that they are hoping that Akif will be available later in the season. So I guess it will depend upon how he will respond to the rehab.