Pakistan discovers second ambidextrous bowler at Muzaffarabad trials

Pakistan has always been the breeding ground of exciting fast bowlers and now, it has found a 13-year-old who can bowl with both hands. On Thursday, August 9, teen prodigy Hammad Baig joined the open trials in Muzaffarabad as an aspiring player for the Lahore Qalandars, one of the teams of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

Baig also had a lucky day at the nets as former Pakistan captain and currently the national team’s chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq saw him bowling. The efforts put in by the Qalandars coaches to find the boy were likely to be rewarded as he came under the watches of someone who is at the pinnacle of their cricket, Inzamam.

Very motivated

“It was very motivating for me to bowl in front of Inzamam. He encouraged me and suggested me to bowl more with my right arm,” Geo TV quoted Baig as saying. He bowled a few deliveries at the nets with both arms.

The teenager, however, is not the first ambidextrous bowler to have been spotted by the Qalandars. In the past, the franchise picked Yasir Jan during the Rising Stars Program, a widely acclaimed programme which has seen a substantial development of players. He even bowled to players from England and the West Indies teams at the nets during their Test series in England last year.

Baig, however, is in no hurry to rise through the ranks and wants to take step by step.

“I’m 13 and student of class 7 and youngest of four siblings. At the moment, I’m playing cricket at club level and will continue to learn from every opportunity,” he said, according to Geo TV.

Promising talent

Although he is too young to train at the moment the Qalandars are not losing sight of him.

“He can become a very good cricketer in the next few years. He is too young at the moment but we will take him under our umbrella to train him and transform him into a pro,” said Aaqib Javed, former Pakistani pacer and currently director of cricket at Lahore Qalandars.

The Qalandars recently selected 17 players under its development programme from more than 5,000 aspiring cricketers from Gilgit-Baltistan after open trials conducted by former and current international players from Pakistan besides Inzi.

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