I stayed away from my family for 8 years to be close to cricket: Yasir Shah

Yasir Shah is probably at the highest point in his career at the moment being ranked no.1 in the ICC Test bowlers ranking. He reached the pinnacle after helping his side pouch a historic win against England at Lord’s. But the journey has never been easy for him since his childhood.

The leg-spinner had to leave his family for eight years in the hunt to be a professional cricketer. “When I was growing up, there were no facilities for sportsmen in Swabi, so to pursue my dream of becoming a professional cricketer, I had to move to Peshawar,” Yasir told The Express Tribune.

“I had to stay away from my home and family for eight years to be close to cricket. I played in Peshawar from 2000 to 2004 and then in Karachi from 2004 to 2008, where I lived in Surjani Town with a friend. I played inter-firms and departmental tournaments for Deewan Motors for a period of three years, and then spent a year with Pakistan Customs,” he added.

Impressing his father:

He often used to get scolded by his father for missing the prayers while busy playing cricket with his cousins and elder brothers. The turning point of his life was when his brothers took him for a tape-ball match, to fill up the playing eleven. He proved to be a match-winner picking up 7 wickets with his leg-spin.

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“I was applauded by everyone for my performance,” recalls Yasir. “While I was collecting my man-of-the-match award, my father burst in and slapped me in front of everyone [for missing my Asar prayers]. I dropped the trophy and tried to escape as my father chased me. Then my cousins and a few neighbours convinced him that I possessed something special and urged him to see me bowl once.”

Since then, his father never missed a single match he has played and became the biggest fan he has earned. “I don’t remember him missing any of my local matches from there on in,” said Yasir. “He told me to focus on cricket, stressing that he and my brothers will look after the family business.”

The big dream:

Playing for the nation was always the dream and he found it difficult to break into the international arena. After a long wait, he got his first international call in 2011 against Zimbabwe, but failed to impress and was dropped. Then in 2014, he again came back in the series against Australia.

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“I was playing a league match in the UAE when I got a call from the PCB to report in Lahore as I was being considered to play against Australia,” says Yasir. “Then I received a call from head coach Waqar Younis as well. I was literally shivering at that moment, but my teammates in the UAE calmed me down.”

He said that Mushtaq Ahmed helped him in developing the googly and supported him a lot with his bowling. “Mushtaq Ahmad worked diligently to make my action repetitive and later helped me in developing my googly,” said Yasir. “I had a nervous start to Test cricket, as I had to bowl to David Warner, who hit me for a few runs. But when the day ended, Waqar and Mushtaq told me that I was bowling well. From that day onwards, I told myself to bowl to my strengths.”

On the verge of a World Record:

Yasir is on the verge of breaking a 120-year-old record for the fastest bowler to 100 Test wickets. George Lohmann of England currently holds the record, who achieved the feat in 16 Tests. After the first Test Yasir has currently 86 wickets from 13 matches.

“It’s good to be breaking records, but to be honest, I don’t think about them too much,” said Yasir. “All I focus on is doing well match by match. If I perform in every innings or every match — which is a hard task — things will fall into place for me. For now, I want to help Pakistan make a mark on this important tour.”

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