Live Star Cricket: Shahzaib Hasan

Sunday 17 February 2013

Shahzaib Hasan

Shahzaib Hasan Biography
The Karachi born youngster, Shahzaib Hasan made his debut for the Karachi Zebras in the 2008-2009 season. And only a year later, got a call up from the Pakistan Cricket Board for the Asia Cup. The 20 year old believes he is ready to play in One Day International cricket. “I am confident that I can play well in the 50-over format of the game. While I have no international experience at the 50-over format, I'm sure that I can turn my recent good domestic form into runs at international level and I am ready for the challenge of 50-over international cricket.”, he told the media in Pakistan.

Hasan is known for hard hitting openers and in the shorter formats of the game can maintain a high strike rate. In his first few opening performances for the Karachi Zebras he made 250 runs at a rate of 96.11. He was an uncapped player in the 2009 ICC World Cup, but Salman Butts poor performance earned him his Twenty20 International debut. He started against New Zealand scoring 35 runs off 28 balls. He kept his place in the team for the final against Sri Lanka, contributing by scoring 19 runs. Pakistan won the 2009 ICC World Cup.

Hasan who was selected in the 15 man squad travelling to Sri Lanka on the 15th of July, trained with the Pakistan squad at the national training camp in Lahore, at Gaddafi stadium. He admitted the training was tough, especially in the heat, but that he was enjoying himself. He revealed that the team was put through strenuous net sessions, fielding practice and the players got individual attention from the coaches.

Hasan praised Captain Shahid Afridi, who gave the youngster advice ahead of his first ever One Day International. Hasan has only ever played four Twenty20 internationals and was looking forward to the tournament so he could impress his captain and Pakistan legend, Javed Miandad. Miandad gave Hasan valuable advice on his batting style and other technical information, which Hasan appreciated. He said that he planned to focus more on “working the ball around the field instead of looking for big shots all the time.” He believed that Pakistan had a good chance of claiming the Asia Cup, being hosted by Sri Lanka. “We’ve got nothing in our minds but victory and this is the attitude which would drive us forward during the tournament”, he stated.

Since the Pakistani team has not been performing well, including Hasan, other surprise players have also been called up; Shoaib Akhtar, Asad Shafiq, Abdul Rehman, Imran Farhat and Umar Amin. There are already too many problems in the Pakistan camp, injury wise and otherwise, and the Pakistan Cricket Board hopes that with the inclusion of these players, Pakistan will perform better in future tournaments.

Even though Pakistan lost to Australia in the Twenty20 World Cup semi final and failed to reach the final, there was a significant improvement in their performance. In addition to that, all the top batsman made an impressive number of runs which was a good confidence boost. In the Twenty20 International against Australia yesterday, 5th July 2010, Shahzaib Hasan failed to live up to the hype created about him, losing out on only the fourth delivery. His teammates however, did not disappoint. Fellow youngster, Umar Akmal’s fourth half century was vital for the Pakistan win over Australia. Other players whose performance is mention worthy were Captain Shahid Afridi, who dismissed the hard hitting Hussey, and Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal who enjoyed a good partnership.

Despite the unlucky start Hasan faced yesterday, it’s still too early to write the youngster off. He is only 20 years old and this was only his second International tournament, he still has a long way to go. Great things are expected from him, and judging from his performance in domestic cricket and the recent Asia Cup, Hasan could go on to be a big name in cricket.

Shahzaib Hasan