The land of Pakistan
has produced some of the most exciting and natural cricketing talents. Since
their introduction to Test cricket, they have continued to gift us such talents
to amaze us enormously. Fresh, naïve and unrefined young guns use to surface
in the international arena and from the word go they take the world by storm
with their charisma. In terms of producing natural talents, Pakistan are way
ahead of the other cricket playing nations.
In the ongoing World Twenty20 Super Eights clash against
South Africa, Pakistani skipper Mohammad Hafeez boldly threw the new ball to a
20-year old left-arm spinner named Raza Hasan. He landed his first ball on a
perfect length and beat Richard Levi. He was on course to grab a wicket in his
first over had Kamran Akmal not let Hashim Amla off. In his second over, Hasan
tested one of the finest batsmen and all-rounder of the modern era, Jacques
Kallis, with his incisiveness.
In the next match against India Hasan was again on target as
he removed Gautam Gambhir in the first over to give Pakistan hope of defending
a small total. However, Virat Kohli proved too strong for Pakistan. Against
Australia, Hasan proved instrumental with figures of 4-0-12-2 and grabbed his
first Man-of-the-Match award in international cricket. The highlight of his
spell was the scalp of Shane Watson.
Hasan has impressed with his attitude. At a young age he is
smart enough to mix his deliveries and the control over line and length is
highly appreciative. Discipline is the hallmark of his bowling - a quality
which is a must to strike gold in limited-overs cricket. The artistic nature of
spin bowling has still not developed in Hasan, but with enough experience and
proper exposure to international cricket that art will develop. And above all,
the kind of character and temperament he has shown on the big stage has been
excellent.
Will he fade away like the other talents of Pakistan who
once showed great promise? Pakistan might be the factory for producing exciting
talents, but sadly many have gone wasted due to the whims of the cricket board
and politics. The lack of ability to nurture and manage the promising talents
have proved handy not only for Pakistan but also for cricket which would've
enriched enough had those talents not got wasted.
Three years ago in the World Twenty20 a left-arm pace
sensation named Mohammad Amir emerged. But sadly, he was infected by the
prophets of the dark world. Another young prospect from Pakistan is on the rise
in the international scene and he has the character and temperament to go a
long way to carry on the legacy of left-arm spin bowling. He needs guidance,
people who will put an arm around him. The PCB must ensure this so that Hasan
does not go the Amir way. Cricket cannot afford to lose such talent due to the
comical, lack of man management abilities and whimsical works of the PCB.
Thank You
Faisal Caesar
Note: The article has been published today at cricket next.com http://cricketnext.in.com/live/blogs/faisalcaesar/3379/63955/impressive-raza-hasan-needs-nurturing.html
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