CPL 2019: Trinabago Knight Riders ropes in Pakistan's Mohammad Hasnain

The Trinbago Knight Riders, the Caribbean Premier League counterpart of the IPL franchise named Kolkata Knight Riders, have a solid team ready for the CPL 2019 contest that begins on September 4. Speculations were as such that Dwayne Bravo, three-time title winner of the CPL, will be leaving the TKR team after five seasons to join the Barbados Tridents but has been bought by the Knight Riders again.

Meanwhile, the defending champions have named Kieron Pollard as their marquee player of the season. The team has also recruited Colin Munro — the top scorer of the 2018 CPL edition, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Bravo before roping in the 19-year-old Pakistani fast-bowler Mohammad Hasnain of PSL fame, in round seven.

Hasnain’s road to prominence

A year ago, nobody wouldn’t have even heard the name and now the 19-year old has been able to make the headlines. That’s the story of the Hyderabad pacer Mohammad Hasnain who made his place in the national cricket team right after the Pakistan Super League. Clocking over a 150 kmph speed, Hasnain rose to prominence playing for the Quetta Gladiators — the winners of PSL 2019. He bagged 12 wickets in 7 outings for the said franchise.

His pace and accuracy gave him the right kind of popularity in the T20 league and was immediately called for his international debut in the five-match ODI series against Australia in March 2019. He also featured in the recently concluded ODI series against England, where he took 3 wickets. And now the prodigy is all set to feature in his first World Cup, all this glory in a matter of a few months. 

Off hiccups to scale new heights

However, between his youth career with Pakistan Under-16s and Under-19s and his stint with the Quetta Gladiators in PSL 2019, Hasnain did face a few hurdles. He played U-16 in 2015 but he didn’t play much cricket in the last four years due to a back injury, on which he spent nearly a year recovering at the NCA. As a surprise revelation for those who are unaware, the right-arm pacer was not even in the first draft of PSL 2019. But the door to his fortune unfolded when Naseem Shah, a 16-year-old, got injured and Hasnain was called in as a replacement. 

Since then there’s no looking back for the only renowned pacer of the Hyderabad region of Pakistan. A successful PSL, World Cup selection and now he has been recruited by the CPL 2018 champion team — the Trinbago Knight Riders. The World Cup concludes on July 14 and the CPL 2019 contest begins on September 4, where we get to see more and more of this emerging talent.