Faiz Fazal's father terms his son as a complete cricketer

Faiz Fazal made his international debut in the third ODI against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club. He became the third Indian cricketer to score 50 or more runs on international debut. Fazal showed his class and elegance in the innings. After the dream debut, his parents were excited and he shared some stories about his son.

“He desperately needed that ‘India‘ tag. Faiz has always aimed high. He was keeping himself motivated even when he wasn’t getting enough chances. He just started playing without expectations. He wanted to take Vidarbha cricket forward and that was one of his primary goals when he came back from Railways.” Faiz’s father Yakub said while speaking to Times of India.

During the match, a powerful on-drive from Vusi Sibanda struck on top of Faiz’s right hand, which was already wrapped with a bandage. He looked in pain but he carried on playing the match. The 30-year old doesn’t want to miss the opportunity he has got and went on to take his side home with a brilliant 55.

Yakub said that Faiz had improved a lot on his fitness in the last couple of years and has been a lot more mature and avoids risky shots and respects good spells. “He has always been very fit but for the last two-three years, Faiz has been concentrating more on his fitness and what he eats. Earlier, he would eat what he wanted. However, it’s different these days. He knows more about his batting now. He has cut down on risky shots and is willing to respect good spells,” he said.

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The father went on to describe how Fazal improved the weakness in his own batting and feels that he is a complete batsman now. “When he started playing cricket, he was predominantly an off-side player. He would struggle when you bowl on his legs. He also had problem against short deliveries. We worked very hard on improving his all-round game. I would bowl to him for hours in the nets. Sometimes, I used to get tired. I must say, Faiz’s first coach Mangesh Pandit also played a very important role in his career. When he started playing BCCI matches, he could play all the shots. He is a complete batsman now,” Yakub explained.

After his blistering debut, Fazal is expected to feature in the T20Is series against Zimbabwe and would like to put in some good performances.