Daily Times

The first time I saw Hussain Talat was in a domestic T20 fixture in Novermber, 2017. He scored 224 runs at an average of 56 with the highest score of 68. I was thoroughly impressed by his ability to bowl bouncers and slower balls. What I noticed about him was his temperament, the ability to cut the ball late and range of shots.

After the departure of legends like Abdul Razzaq and Azhar Mehmood, Pakistan has not been able to find a good pace bowling all-rounder who can increase the run rate at the death overs and also provide the captain with an additional bowling option. Hussain seems to be the long-awaited find, and not to forget Faheem Ashraf, another recent find who has also made his presence felt at the grandest stages of them all. Hussain’s inclusion in the team has strengthened the competition between the two all-rounders.

Hussain’s father wanted his elder son, Hassan, to become a pace bowler and go on to serve the Pakistan cricket team. Every morning, Hassan was forced to wake up early and go to practice before school time, but it was Hussain who would be the more willing out of the two. It was his persistence to go along with his father and his perseverance that helped him make it to Pakistan’s national cricket team.

In 7^th standard, Hussain switched to Muslim Model High School purely to play cricket; the school used to conduct net sessions at Minto Park (Iqbal Park now) in the morning. After the net session, he would go to the family owned sports goods shop and return for another net session in the afternoon at his cricket club called Victorious cricket club. After the practice session, he would go back to the shop and attend to it till 11 pm.

For 3-4 years, the continuous to-and-fro action was his routine. “My friends used to enjoy their life and say that I am wasting my life in cricket”, said Hussain Talat while talking to Daily Times.

But, that didn’t deter him from his path to becoming an international cricketer. He kept at it with sheer dedication and hard work to eventually receive the Pakistan team cap from former captain Ramiz Raja.

Hussain started off as a leg spin batting all-rounder, even though his inclination was always towards pace bowling. However, on his father’s conviction that it’s easier to get into the national side as a leg-spinner because there aren’t many, Hussain began bowling leg spin. The 22-year-old, however, changed it to pace bowling soon, with occasional but effective slower ones added to his arsenal courtesy the short stint at leg spin bowling.

PSL has proved to be a breakthrough platform for the young star. Not only has the tournament helped Hussain change his mindset as he is more positive in his approach now, it has also provided him with an opportunity to learn from the giants of the game.

“I have seen international players in PSL being all confident and never scared of failure, they focus on the win. I have also started thinking about positive stuff, I tell myself that what would happen if I succeed rather than thinking what would happen if I fail,” he said.

“It’s more about learning from the senior players, the nervousness of facing the big names is gone now,” said Hussain.

Hussain is the product of Pakistan’s domestic setup, he started with club cricket, which led him to play under 16-19 district tournaments. Later, he joined the department cricket to further play first class and list A cricket.

He joined Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited’s under-19 cricket team, which had Babar Azam as captain at the time. During the second season at ZTBL under Zafar Gohar’s leadership, Hussain scored the highest number of runs in Pakistan. The performance earned him a place for Pakistan under-19 team’s tour of England for a tri-series.

Speaking about his changes in approach to the game, Hussain said that he was predominantly a leg-side player during the under-19 time, which limited his game. He practiced hard to play and develop shots on the off-side upon recognising the issue. “I went back in nets to practice on playing towards cover and extra-cover, now my favorite shot is towards extra-cover”.

On his debut against West Indies in Karachi, Hussain won the player of the match award for his hard earned 41 runs, 1 wicket and 3 catches. Playing in front of the home crowd and winning player of the match award, it was a dream come true for the 22-year-old from Lahore.

His international career has just kick-started and given his credentials, one can only hope for more such performances by this young talent for the Pakistan team. However, he still has a lot to learn and has to further prove himself in One Day Internationals and Test cricket to truly earn the respect of cricket fraternity.

The writer is a member of the staff at Daily Times and can be reached on twitter @waqas464