[EXCLUSIVE] "I don't have any regrets about moving to the USA": Sami Aslam

[Ball Blazer]

In this exclusive interview, former Pakistan U19 captain and batsman Sami Aslam opens up about his career shift from Pakistan cricket to life in the United States. He details the reality of his Major League Cricket contract, his successful transition into business as a used car dealership owner in California, and his thoughts on a potential return to domestic cricket. Aslam also provides a candid critique of the player pathway in Pakistan, compares development systems internationally, and shares his advice for the current generation of U19 stars.

Key revelations include:

•⁠ ⁠On his USA move: "The purpose of going to the USA was financial." – Sami moved to the USA on an MLC contract that later shifted to a tournament-based system, prompting him to seek long-term financial stability beyond cricket. He now runs a used car dealership in California.

•⁠ ⁠On contract reality: "Your direct contact will be with the Major League team." – After his initial contract with MLC expired, the structure shifted to a tournament-by-tournament basis, leaving him without a fixed annual salary. Sami has explained the payment structure he had to cope with.

•⁠ ⁠On no regrets: "I don't have any regrets... I think I am very satisfied with my decision." – Despite fans' disappointment over his departure from Pakistan, Sami states he has no regrets. He feels his business is flourishing in ways cricket couldn't match financially, and he is nearing US citizenship

•⁠ ⁠On business success: "My business is doing very well. Which can't match cricket financially." –He also feels that the current USA Cricket structure and contracts aren't as appealing compared to his business opportunities.

•⁠ ⁠On Pakistan's system: "There is no pathway in Pakistan." – While praising the recent success of the Pakistan U-19 team (like winning the Asia Cup), Sami notes a lack of a clear "pathway" for these players to transition into the senior team.

•⁠ ⁠On a systemic issue: "If you don't greet a person who is in power, he won't let you play." – He critiqued the system for favoring "hype" and single performances in leagues like the PSL over consistent long-term performers in first-class cricket.

•⁠ ⁠On U19 talent: "Our talent is still excellent at under-19 level." – He advises the current U-19 players to enjoy the moment and focus on winning the World Cup rather than worrying about future politics or international selection too early.

Watch full interview with Saj here:

 

[Rafale Nidhal Fan]

good for him, good luck to him

 

[cricketAXEpert]

Scourge of nepotism as ruined so many careers in Pakistan. Sami Aslam was easily the better of Shan Masood. Fawad Alam, Ahmed Shahzad (for Tests), Sami Aslam the list goes on..

 

[pakistani pride]

Good for him.

 

[SM1989]

He wasn’t that great. I still remember the 12 off 51 balls he scored against england in 2016 Oval test when chasing a target of 40. England had given up on the match and were using Joe Root and Moeen Ali to bowl. Poor stuff

 

[Hellion]

It's a shame this teenage prodigy has left Pakistan cricket forever.

What a precocious 19 year talent he was at age group level

 

[shaz619]

I wouldn’t either, look at the state of the team during the time he left.

 

[pakistani pride]

I wouldn’t either, look at the state of the team during the time he left.

Well he was not that good either, very timid player.
Average of 31 and a SR of 39 is just not good enough.

 

[shaz619]

Well he was not that good either, very timid player.
Average of 31 and a SR of 39 is just not good enough.

He had potential in Tests & could deal with lateral movement better than most Pak players around the time & he was good against spin to. It’s bizarre going by numbers during a period when he was hardly a settled player, that’s not the return on a player Pakistan invested in, but one they were happy to disregard ahead of their excellent bench strength….

 

[pakistani pride]

He had potential in Tests & could deal with lateral movement better than most Pak players around the time & he was good against spin to. It’s bizarre going by numbers during a period when he was hardly a settled player, that’s not the return on a player Pakistan invested in, but one they were happy to disregard ahead of their excellent bench strength….He had 25 innings to show his quality. only 7 fifty plus scores and 0 hundreds. even in tests a SR of 39 is abysmal and like i said he seemed very timid. even in FC his average is well below 40 with a sr of 46.

He had 25 innings to prove himself and honestly didn’t do much with them. Only 7 fifty-plus scores and not a single hundred. Even in Tests, a strike rate of 39 is poor, he just looked way too timid at the crease. And if you look at his first-class record, it doesn’t really show a lot, average under 40 and a SR of 46. Hard to argue that those numbers show a quality player that Pak missed out on.

 

[shaz619]

He had 25 innings to prove himself and honestly didn’t do much with them. Only 7 fifty-plus scores and not a single hundred. Even in Tests, a strike rate of 39 is poor, he just looked way too timid at the crease. And if you look at his first-class record, it doesn’t really show a lot, average under 40 and a SR of 46. Hard to argue that those numbers show a quality player that Pak missed out on.

He never got the chance to properly settle into the team, he was a young player then and discarding him after 10 or so Tests is harsh, especially when a decent chunk of those games took place in tough overseas conditions, add to that he didn’t have the luxury of playing in Pakistan either. He showed me enough during his debut tour of England to deserve more of an investment, and especially a much bigger rope in friendly conditions to establish himself. You look at some of our premier players now and they are sitting ducks on difficult pitches, Sami may not have been the answer to every question but had the talent & potential evidently, to help solidify the top order, especially in asia & where there was grass.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Sami Aslam appeared to be a promising prospect, but it appears to be too late for him to make a comeback now

 

[tiger_khan]

Sami Aslam appeared to be a promising prospect, but it appears to be too late for him to make a comeback now

He was a very good opener

An opener who plays spin very well is like gold in international cricket


He too was a victim of Pak nepotism. He was given hard foreign tours in which he had reasonable performances. But when easy series came along, he was replaced by a certain nephew

This is one of the reasons many talented players who represent Pakistan, lose faith in the system and sometimes become the victims of predators

Nasir Jamshed was an extremely talented cricketer too. He even performed very well but was replaced. He eventually became a victim of spot-fixing predators

Some talented players lose hope and go towards the darkside when they are wronged by Pakistani cricket politics

Credit goes to Sami Aslam that he didn't fall for anything bad and flew out of Pakistan for better opportunities elsewhere

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

I was never that impressed by him. He seemed to be one of those players who always had an excuse for his failures. His biggest issue was that he had a tendency to go into a shell. He could face a decent amount of deliveries at the crease but there was rarely an intent to score. Even in Test cricket it's rare to see a player with a strike-rate of 39. He played some good knocks, namely the 90 odd against NZ in a tall run-chase at Hamilton, but for the most part watching him bat felt like watching someone desperately trying to survive.

The US side is not exactly a who's who of youngsters. Most of these guys were domestic names in their countries and/or failed international cricketers... who are also pretty old. The fact that he hasn't been able to make it into their team tells you that he's not good enough to.

 

[CricVet]

I was never that impressed by him. He seemed to be one of those players who always had an excuse for his failures. His biggest issue was that he had a tendency to go into a shell. He could face a decent amount of deliveries at the crease but there was rarely an intent to score. Even in Test cricket it's rare to see a player with a strike-rate of 39. He played some good knocks, namely the 90 odd against NZ in a tall run-chase at Hamilton, but for the most part watching him bat felt like watching someone desperately trying to survive.

The US side is not exactly a who's who of youngsters. Most of these guys were domestic names in their countries and/or failed international cricketers... who are also pretty old. The fact that he hasn't been able to make it into their team tells you that he's not good enough to.

Did he debut under Misbah's captaincy in tests and Azhar being ODI captain? TWO very inspiring high SR captains of a dream team :/

 

[tiger_khan]

Did he debut under Misbah's captaincy in tests and Azhar being ODI captain? TWO very inspiring high SR captains of a dream team :/

Yes, I think so

And he was given difficult away series in which he scored couple of very important 40s. Only to be replaced by a famous nephew in relatively easy series

He was Pakistan under-19 Captain

I have seen him bat before he played the national team. He used to score with a rapid pace.

It's only when he played under the captaincy of Misbah and Azhar, his SR went down

We can't relate to the pressure captains put on young cricketers.

 

[hur rizvi]

I was never that impressed by him. He seemed to be one of those players who always had an excuse for his failures. His biggest issue was that he had a tendency to go into a shell. He could face a decent amount of deliveries at the crease but there was rarely an intent to score. Even in Test cricket it's rare to see a player with a strike-rate of 39. He played some good knocks, namely the 90 odd against NZ in a tall run-chase at Hamilton, but for the most part watching him bat felt like watching someone desperately trying to survive.

The US side is not exactly a who's who of youngsters. Most of these guys were domestic names in their countries and/or failed international cricketers... who are also pretty old. The fact that he hasn't been able to make it into their team tells you that he's not good enough to.

He was suitable for long formats. US don’t even have a FC structure so his opportunities are/were bound to be limited.

He made a good call though. He is able to get his green card and do business in the US which will lead to stable life financially hopefully …

In Pakistan even if he made a comeback he would have been dropped likely after a few more tests

 

[pakistani pride]

Did he debut under Misbah's captaincy in tests and Azhar being ODI captain? TWO very inspiring high SR captains of a dream team :/

Misbah once set was a very good bat for Pak in TESTS. He attacked as well. Sami was very timid.

 

[pakistani pride]

Yes, I think so

And he was given difficult away series in which he scored couple of very important 40s. Only to be replaced by a famous nephew in relatively easy series

He was Pakistan under-19 Captain

I have seen him bat before he played the national team. He used to score with a rapid pace.

It's only when he played under the captaincy of Misbah and Azhar, his SR went down

We can't relate to the pressure captains put on young cricketers.

Whats his FC record and SR?

 

[Major]

He himself is to blamed for what he did to his career, and seems like a lot of posters don't know what he did.

He was a good prospect, he did not perform that well and fell in the pecking order. Instead of going back to domestic cricket and work to get back in the team he started to cry about conspiracy and ran away to USA the first opportunity he got.

His issues started when Mickey Arthur pointed out that he has a very unhealthy diet and needs to stop eating karhais which are made in butter and ghee. He was caught one day secretly eating a karhai and was dropped after that incident.

Than when he went back to domestic cricket, I think he was playing for Balochistan, when he started to cry that coaches were not treating him well. There was a thread on this here on pakpassion.

Anyways, guy runs over to USA, when he becomes eligible to play for USA, guess what he does, he doesn't bother to play in one of their mandatory MLC tournament, decides to go on a honeymoon, USA cricket doesn't bother to give him a spot in the team, and so he even missed out on the 2024 world t20 team aswell.

His behavior indicates he was one crazy guy that just destroyed his own career.

He could had walked into the test team had he just quietly played domestic cricket back in Pakistan. After Abid Ali had that heart condition, he would had made his return.

 

[tiger_khan]

Whats his FC record and SR?

I don't know. Check the Cricinfo. The few innings I saw before his debut he was playing with a SR an Australian would do

Nothing over the top but moving the game in a positive direction for the team, runs wise. The most important aspect that I noticed was that he rolled the strike pretty well

BTW I am talking about redball cricket

 

[TeymurBlake]

He was very timid, but he had Quad-E-Azam season where he averaged 30+.

The season he got selected for Pakistan in 2016, he I believe played like a handful of games and had a 40+ average.

He had potential but was timid & lacked a solid work rate.

 

[Major]

He was suitable for long formats. US don’t even have a FC structure so his opportunities are/were bound to be limited.

He made a good call though. He is able to get his green card and do business in the US which will lead to stable life financially hopefully …

In Pakistan even if he made a comeback he would have been dropped likely after a few more tests

I get what you are saying, but still I believe it's not worth it to throw away your celebrity status.

This is exactly what Kaleem Sana did. A fast bowling prospect from Rawalpindi, was performing better than Junaid Khan to warrant a spot in the national team. Ends up taking an offer to play in Canada. He got his nationality and all, but what's sad is he never really became a celebrity that he could had become had he played for Pakistan.

Coming back to Sami Aslam, like the guy was playing cricket from a young age, and to throw all that away, when you are already part of the national team radar.

 

[ElRaja]

too much roses tinted glasses over has beens, no hundreds in 25 innings is rubbish considering he got to play in some high scoring batting friendly conditions, also the way he got out when set was poor. he deserved his chance, he got it, he didnt make the most of it, got dropped justifiably.

 

[tiger_khan]

I don't know. Check the Cricinfo. The few innings I saw before his debut he was playing with a SR an Australian would do

Nothing over the top but moving the game in a positive direction for the team, runs wise. The most important aspect that I noticed was that he rolled the strike pretty well

BTW I am talking about redball cricket

*Rotate the strike

 

[CricVet]

Misbah once set was a very good bat for Pak in TESTS. He attacked as well. Sami was very timid.

Misbah indeed was a 2 gear wonder! He was never needed the middle gears...very crafty