Hasan Raza aims to break into UAE cricket

[Saj]

Hasan Raza is a man on a mission. Pakistan's former cricket player is trying to break into the UAE national side and considers the country as 'second home'.

Raza has played in many local leagues here and the Masters Champions League in his bid to realise his aim. "I am playing here to qualify for the UAE cricket."

Raza has still time left to gain eligibility and would miss the UAE tour to Scotland.

"Hopefully, I can play the next tour. I had a word with former coach Aaqib Javed. He told me to continue performing well in Bukhatir League and other tournaments."

"I got a hundred against UBL in the last match and another one in the semifinal," the 34-year-old said. He was the man-of-the-match in the final of the Techaccess 'A' division tournament played at Zayed Cricekt Stadium on Sunday.

Raza had an excellent domestic record in Pakistan but couldn't translate it on the international stage. His decision to join the unofficial Indian Cricket League also didn't help his cause. The ICL was not backed by the International Cricket Council.

"I played for Habib Bank Limited and have scored 37 centuries in domestic leagues back home. I needed to move on and for the last 4-5 years I am playing here in local tournaments."

Raza said he is well-prepared to make the transition from Pakistan cricket to the UAE.

"Yes, I have left my domestic league back home. I am looking forward to big leagues and tournaments in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. This is my second home."

Raza said his experience of playing in Northern Ireland league and the US has come handy while playing in various formats.

On personal front, he said his decision to move to the UAE is a struggle. "I really miss my family."

"Old is gold," he said with a glee regarding his age.

"I still hold the world record. I made my Test debut against Zimbabwe when I was 14 years." "I hope to carry on and hopefully with the likes of UAE player Rohan Mustafa can deliver more useful partnerships."

Meanwhile, UAE player Rohan Mustafa is eyeing a berth in the team to Scotland. He made a big case for the slot with man of the tournament, man of the match awards in the semi-finals and quarters of the Techaccess cup.

He scored 244 runs and took five wickets in the just-concluded tournament.He thanked God and his mother for his performance. "I am performing very well for last couple of months. Now am hoping to do well in the Ramadan tournament."

On the Scotland tour, he said: "That will be good tour for the UAE and I hope to make the final team."

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/sport/local/raza-aims-to-break-into-uae-cricket

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Happy for him. He deserves some recognition. A stylist bat whom the UAE fans will rejoice.

I still remember his cover drives for six which were all about timing.

 

[pasha404]

He can take Fawad Alam and Qadir son with him as well to UAE.surplus to need

 

[#GreenRoars]

Good luck to him.

 

[MenInG]

Saw him in Toronto in the Sahara Cup- felt proud that we had a young prodigy amongst us at that time

 

[gazza619]

Good for him. UAE and other associate nations need to make easy rules for overseas players to represent them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bewal Express]

He was destroyed by the stupidity of the selectors for picking him so young to break some stupid record. Although he wasn`t 14/15, more like 17, for me he seemed too immature to cope with the pressures that came.

 

[amit]

And when Hasan Raza finally looked like he will make it big with a impressive performance against Australia in 2002, he was dropped after just 2 failures in the next series against Zimbabwe and then had to wait 3 years for the next chance and dropped forever

Selectors should have stayed with Hasan Raza in 2002 after his performances against Australia rather than dropping him

 

[FreakCricket]

garbage technique, should go play for Uganda

 

[Mamoon]

One of the many middle-order batsmen who suffered from Bob Woolmer's insistence to play all-rounders like Afridi and Malik who were never Test material to begin with.

He had a good career in him, hopefully he will do well for the UAE for a few years.

 

[Abdullah719]

Hasan Raza, former Pakistan Test cricketer, ready for new life with UAE

DUBAI // Twenty years after officially becoming Test cricket’s youngest ever player, Hasan Raza has started out on his second life in the international game, having made his first appearance for the UAE.

The veracity of his claim to being 14 when he debuted for Pakistan against Zimbabwe in 1996 has been contested, but he is still regarded as the youngest to have played the format.

Now 34, he is just over six months away from qualifying for the UAE under the ICC’s four-year residency criteria, as he now lives in Sharjah.


Even while still involved in the Pakistan first-class game, Raza regularly played domestic A division cricket in the UAE as a guest player. He is playing for the national team in a two-day practice match against West Indies.

"I want to play as soon as possible for the UAE team," Raza, a middle-order batsman who played sevens Tests for Pakistan, said.

"I played Tests for the last time in 2005, against England in Lahore and Multan. They didn’t want to select me to come back for the Pakistan team, and I was disappointed in that.


"UAE have a lot of cricket, good grounds, good conditions and I want to play. I have kept in touch with the management, and I am eligible from next year."

Raza’s arrival in the UAE set up means the national team could soon field two former Pakistani Test players in their line-up.

Riaz Afridi, who played one Test as a bowler in 2004, is months away from being eligible, too, and is thought to be part of the selectors’ plans for the future.


Raza’s first day playing for his adopted side, at the start of a two-day preparatory match to give the West Indies players practice before the Test series against Pakistan, could not have gone much worse.

The two sides had agreed to bat no more than 70 overs each on first innings. The national team managed just two wickets in that time as West Indies racked up 249.

In reply, the UAE’s batting was blown away by the Caribbean side’s new-ball attack of Miguel Cummins and Jonathan Carter, as they collapsed to 20 for seven. Raza was out for a second-ball duck.


"It was a tough day," Raza said. "They are a professional team, their preparation is very good, and it showed how much hard work we need to do as batsmen to improve."

The batting horror show provided a tough end to an exacting first day in charge for the UAE’s interim coach, Owais Shah.

"The skill level [of the UAE players] is high, but it is a matter of doing the basics right," said Shah, the former England batsman who is in charge of the national team for the next 15 days.

http://www.thenational.ae/sport/cri...an-test-cricketer-ready-for-new-life-with-uae

 

[Suleiman]

Really feel bad for this guy, finest example of a potentially world class career being destroyed by PCB.

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

So Now Two Pakistan Test Players will Represent UAE National Cricket Team.

 

[The cricket enthusiast]

So Now Two Pakistan Test Players will Represent UAE National Cricket Team.

& the other one?

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

& the other one?

Riaz Afridi.

 

[TQ89]

Although I dont agree this blood them young theory that our ex-cricketers/selectors always talk about, Hassan never really cashed in on the few opportunities given by PCB. He failed miserably in 2005 1st test vs ENG & that was the nail in the coffin for him

 

[Gabbar Singh]

Good luck to him.

 

[Justcrazy]

One of the many middle-order batsmen who suffered from Bob Woolmer's insistence to play all-rounders like Afridi and Malik who were never Test material to begin with.

He had a good career in him, hopefully he will do well for the UAE for a few years.

Probably true , but that time they required 5th option with the ball as well. Unfortunately pakistan did not have batsmen in top six who could bowl.

 

[aloo paratha]

Good luck to him, hope he can help the youngstas in UAE as well

 

[cricket_cfa]

his one handed catch at mid off i think of wasims bowling...was very sharp

 

[Rayyman]

I personally hate seeing expats play. If I was watching the U.S. team playing in the WC, I would hate to see players born and raised in foreign countries playing for the U.S. Imagine an "American" who speaks with an Indian accent. Unbelievable. Although I do realize that expats are the only ones who actually care about the game, I would like to see more "citizens" representing the Associate and Affiliate nations.

 

[Finisher]

I think in the next few years U.A.E will be getting a lot established domestic player's from Pakistan.

Guys that otherwise wouldn't get a good chance of playing international cricket for Pakistan, guys like Sadaf Hussain- Ali Imran Pasha.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

An interesting piece on Hasan Raza (and some others) from the Dawn.

Born to bat, destined to fail — how Pakistani cricket fails talent

“This kid has God gifted talent, he is born to bat” is a frequently echoed sentiment for some. And yes, some of them are just special from day one. You see them and you know they have an ability superior to their peers and are more endowed than others.

Like most young Pakistanis, I also played a lot of cricket. In the back yard, the front driveway, the street , in class, in narrow school corridors, and on nasty cement pitches with rocks in the outfield and garbage dumped in the corner.

My cricket fanatic father had four sons, all equally obsessed with the sport. Add uncles, cousins and nephews, and it was a brood full of cricket experts.

Almost all of us played club cricket but my brother Shahpur Agha was the biggest talent in the family; he was special. He always scored more runs than the other kids on the block and got more wickets too.

Read next: The rise and fall of Pakistan cricket's young mavericks

Ahmed Mustafa ran the CCC (Cricket Coaching Center) off Garden Road, a popular cricket academy located in the densely populated heart of Karachi. In the early nineties, Faisal Iqbal and Owais Shah were being polished there, along with Shahpur and many other skilled youth of the city.

It was a fine bunch of extremely capable boys, clocking countless hours at the CCC's nets. But there was something extraordinary about this one bloke, Hasan Raza. He stood out from the crowd; at the age of 12, he was already a class apart.

Hasan was a lanky lad with barely any muscle on his arms, but he found the fence almost at will. Hasan was to the other kids at the CCC what Shahpur was at home. He was clearly better than everyone else. It was evident that Hasan was destined for greatness, he had a gift from God, and he was born to bat.

Hasan made his Test debut at a world record age of 14 (the PCB later withdrew the claim, as his actual age was uncertain) in 1996. Realising that Hasan was too young for the biggest stage, he was not given another go for the next two years.

Hasan was prolific in domestic cricket and broke through the Test team again in 1998, only to play a solitary innings of three runs, spending 40 minutes at the crease. Pakistan batted once as the match was abandoned due to heavy fog. And Hasan’s career went behind a cloud for another four years. He only played a game and a half in his first six years in international cricket.

Also read: Dark knights: From Akram to Amir

In 2002, against the likes of Glenn Mcgrath, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee and Shane Warne, Pakistan was bundled for a total of 59 and 53 in Sharjah. With the heavy weight of first class runs and form behind Hasan, he made yet another comeback in the third test of a sealed series.

He remained not out at 54 in the first innings and was the ninth wicket dismissal in the second innings, scoring 68, as Pakistan crumbled to a second consecutive innings defeat. Hasan got half-centuries in each innings while no other Pakistani batsmen crossed 50 in the game. Two more Tests that year (that included three innings), and Hasan was dropped for another three years.

Hasan was blessed with abundant natural talent, but without proper nurturing, it didn’t add up to a lot. He was perhaps pushed into the fray before it was his time. Like many other young debutantes in Pakistan, Hasan never got the environment to flourish and meet the demands of international cricket either.

The biggest difference between domestic and international cricket is the level of pressure, and perhaps Hasan’s career was buried under the burden of expectations. The free flowing natural stroke-maker bottled up and could never express his ‘A’ game that came through his impulse and made him a local genius.

In the 608 balls he faced in Test cricket, he scored 235 runs at an agonising strike rate of 38.65.

Hasan played seven Test matches, under four different captains, in a career spanning 10 years.

In December 2004, when Hashim Amla made his debut for South Africa at the age of 21, he was touted as the most talented young Proteas batsman. In his first three years of Test cricket, he averaged 22 in 17 innings with one score over 50. When coach Mickey Arthur took over from Ray Jennings as South Africa’s head coach in 2005, he assured Amla of his place. The rest is history.

Explore: Remembering Fazal Mahmood: Pakistan cricket's first ‘poster boy’

Arthur has now suggested that a major reason for Pakistan’s failure was that a lot of its cricketers were often playing for their place in the side, failing to get the opportunity to express themselves. For optimal results, there should be a culture where players are identified and then backed, he believes.

223 Test caps have been given out by Pakistan, a staggering 41 of those cricketers never played a second Test match.

In modern times, with the availability of statistical data and slow motion cameras, batsmen get found out much faster at the international stage than they did in yesteryears. Any technical chink in the armour is exposed and preyed upon.

Thus, cricket nurseries are set up to varnish and shine raw gems coming through the ranks. Psychologists are hired, and everything that can be improved upon is worked on. This creates an essential need for good coaches and academies at all levels of cricket.

Many Pakistani batsmen burst on to the scene with a good instinct for the game. However, far too often our system is not able to groom and build its human resource, and at the international tier their technical or mental frailty is quickly unmasked.

Bowlers on the other hand need relatively lesser tweaking and can remain truer to their powers. Unlike the batsmen, their job inherently gives them greater leeway to err and opportunities to redeem themselves, sometimes on the very next delivery. Subsequently, the bowling tank in Pakistan is consistently well stocked; it is the batting that is a worry.

Infrastructure at junior and domestic cricket in Pakistan has never been up to international standards. More so, in recent times other countries with greater economic muscle and better governing bodies have taken large strides in strengthening their roots, leaving Pakistan even further behind in the game.

Shahpur gave up on his dream of playing for Pakistan very early and moved for higher education abroad while he was still in his teens.

Related: A dying swagger: The evolution of Pakistan Cricket

Faisal Iqbal played 26 Test matches and 18 ODIs. He laments that some forces in Pakistan cricket always wanted him to fail.

Owais Shah, who went rather under-noticed like many other kids at the CCC, surprisingly played 94 international matches for England across three formats, a lot more than the combined total of games that the talents of Hasan and Faisal could manage.

Hasan still turns up at List-A and T20 games but has lost that zinc of the little kid at the CCC. He failed miserably at international cricket. And in his case, so did Pakistan cricket.

Hasan was born to bat, but destined to fail.

http://www.dawn.com/news/1301977/born-to-bat-destined-to-fail-how-pakistani-cricket-fails-talent

 

[jeetu]

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1270536/pakistan-uae-hasan-raza-switch-international-allegiances/

From Pakistan to UAE: Hasan Raza to switch international allegiances

Hasan Raza was once the very epitome of the Pakistani dream. As a 14-year-old, he became the youngest-ever Test cricketer when he made his debut in 1996 against Zimbabwe in Faisalabad.

Two decades later, things have decidedly gone downhill for the right-handed batsman. It has been more than 10 years since he last represented Pakistan in Tests and more than 15 since he played in an ODI.

The 34-year-old is therefore understandably looking at pastures new. In five months’ time, he will be eligible to represent the UAE.

“I am just five months away from being allowed to play for the UAE national side, and I’ve been performing in UAE’s domestic circuit for the past three years,” said Raza, who played a total of seven Tests for Pakistan.

Raza is still involved in Pakistan’s domestic circuit, representing PTV in grade two of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

“I will be 35 by the time I make my debut for UAE as, according to ICC rules, an international player has to be a resident of a country for three-and-a-half years before he can switch allegiances, while it is four years for a first-class cricketer,” Raza told The Express Tribune.

“I want to play as soon as possible for UAE since I am in good form these days.”

Raza, once touted as the next big thing in international cricket, said Pakistan have a lot of talent at their disposal but don’t have enough facilities.

“UAE has a lot of cricket — good grounds, good conditions and I enjoy playing for them. I have kept in touch with the UAE cricket management, and I will be able to play in April or May next year,” he added.

The soon-to-be UAE international will have to leave Pakistan’s domestic cricket once he starts representing them. “I am currently playing for PTV and will continue to do so for as long as I can,” he said.

Raza is not the only former Test player from Pakistan who has plans of representing the UAE. Fast-bowler Riaz Afridi, who turned out for the Men in Green in 2004, is just 10 months away from being eligible for the UAE and is also reportedly in the selectors’ plans.

Raza revealed Rana Navedul Hasan — who was recently appointed as the UAE bowling coach — reached out to him. “Rana has been in contact with me and he said the UAE need a batman like me; they still some good players but they still require a middle-order batsman,” he said.

Raza has already worn UAE colours, albeit in an unofficial match. It was a nightmare debut though in a two-day preparatory match against the West Indies during their tour of the UAE to face Pakistan. Raza was dismissed on a silver duck as West Indies ran through the UAE to leave them 20-7.

“It was a tough day for us. They are a professional team, their preparation was very good, and it showed just how much hard work we need to put in if we are to improve,” said Raza, already using possessive adverbs for his adopted him.

Raza may soon find himself as one of the top dogs for the minnows, but he will always be remembered as the boy who peaked too early; forever haunted by the image of his 14-year-old self achieving what he in his peak could not.

 

[PakLFC]

What happened to Hasan Raza?

One happened to Hasan Raza who made his Pak debut as a 14 or 15 year old batsman many yeas back? He was supposed to be like Tendulkar then. Never heard of him after he failed in a few innings.

 

[King-Misbah]

One happened to Hasan Raza who made his Pak debut as a 14 or 15 year old batsman many yeas back? He was supposed to be like Tendulkar then. Never heard of him after he failed in a few innings.

I heard some bad stuff about him considering his life style when he played league cricket in England. Not sure whether it's true?!? If it's true, may be he lost his way.

 

[hadi123]

Hasan Raza scored 97 today off 118 balls. Very important innings as his team won by 7 runs against NBP