Thunderbolt14
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With U-19 trials currently ongoing for the 2020 domestic season, it is a good time to take a look at some of Pakistan’s standout performers from the PCB‘s feeder system set up at the U-16 level. Following a Pentangular Tournament in 2018-19, PCB sent our youngsters to play 2 series each against Australia and Bangladesh respectively during this period. Here is a brief glimpse into some of the up and coming talent we are very likely to see selected following the trials, and perhaps even make it to the Pakistan team some day.
Umar Eman: Beginning with Eman, he is the former Pakistan U-16 Captain. Hailing from Lahore, Eman was the skipper of the side in one series against Australia in Dubai, beating them 3-2 in the One-Day series and 1-0 in the one-off T20 match. Eman is notable for being an all-rounder with interesting characteristics: he is a left-handed batsman, but bowls right-arm leg spin. A smart, confident lad, Eman shows a sensible head on his shoulders and leads by example on the field in batting, bowling, and fitness. He is well spoken, has appeared in numerous interviews at the U-16 level, and is being groomed along with the other names on this list by the PCB as far as diet, exercise, fielding, and media-handling are concerned. Eman will likely captain the Central Punjab U-19 side, and remains a contender for the national side as well.
Faisal Akram: One of the highest-rated up and coming prospects in the circuit, if there is one person to keep an eye on, it is Faisal Akram — a left-arm wristspin/chinaman bowler from Multan. He’s been rated by the Pakistan U-19 staff for some years now, has already bowled to Muhammad Hafeez and Fakhar Zaman in the nets at a young age, and is uniquely notable for being the only chinaman in the entirety of Pakistan’s 2018-19 U-16 Pentangular Cup — a tournament where Akram finished as the best bowler in the tournament with 10 wickets in 5 matches for KPK. Immediately selected for the Pakistan U-16 team following these performances, Akram finished as Pakistan’s highest wicket-taker against Australia across the 2019 One-Day series in Dubai, including a 5-fer to bowl Australia out for 140 in 38 overs. Akram is in fact currently being scouted by the Multan Sultans as a potential recruit in the emerging category for either PSL 6 or 7; he already has an informal offer from Ali Khan Tareen, who has been providing support for almost two years now. Akram can bat a bit, which gives him great utility as a strong future player for Pakistan, and though a quiet lad, he has an immense hunger for the game which is no doubt an asset for any rising spinner. Akram is smart and does well at school, and comes from a hard-working family of 9 siblings, including one older brother who plays cricket part-time to managing the household, and another on his way to becoming a doctor. Interestingly, Faisal Akram occasionally speaks to Hardik Pandya, and has a bat gifted to him by the Indian star.
Muhammad Shehzad: Shehzad is a batting all-rounder hailing from Jhang, Punjab, and bowls right-arm medium-fast. He bats between the opener and one-down positions, as part of PCB’s age group policy to bat their best players in the top 3. He first made a name for himself in PCB’s 2018-19 U-16 Pentangular tournament, where the young lad scored a mammoth 309 runs in 5 matches for KPK at an average of 103. Fast-tracked to the Pakistan U-16 team, Shehzad excelled in a one-off T20 game against Australia (stringing together 73* in a 100-run partnership with Sameer Saqib to win a last-ball thriller) and continued his performances in the series against Bangladesh in 2019, where he scored successive scores of . Despite being one age-group younger, Shehzad was fast tracked for the Pakistan U-19 squad early in 2020 for the World Cup in South Africa, where he played 2 games before sitting out for Muhammad Hurraira. Shehzad is highly rated by both Mudassar Nazar and Ijaz Ahmed, who have indicated him as someone who can serve the Pakistan team well in the future as a utility player. Indeed, he may well be able to plug the batting-fast bowling-allrounder gap that our national team has been struggling to fill for over 10 years now.
Saim Ayub: Hailing from Sindh, Ayub is the former Pakistan U-16 captain and made headlines for his fantastic knock of 161* against Australia U16 in Melbourne, 2018. He is exceedingly dynamic and very exciting to watch play, and if his scores in Australia are anything to go by, he is one to watch given our national team’s struggles in the country. Though he will not be eligible for the 2022 U-19 World Cup, he is nevertheless one of the most exciting batting prospects from the current batch and will no doubt be one to follow. Here are some clips shared by Saj from 2 years ago:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">One to watch - 16 year old Saim Ayub who impressed for Pakistan Under 19s on their tour of Australia. 2 recent scores for Karachi Region Whites have been 100 off 80 balls (7x4s, 5x6s) and 104* off 102 balls (11x4s, 3x6s) in the Inter-Region Under 19 One-Day Tournament <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/5gwHv4CEFk">pic.twitter.com/5gwHv4CEFk</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1026107769802444801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Haseebullah Khan: A left-handed hard-hitting opener and keeper from Pishin, Quetta, Haseebullah is definitely one to look out for. A solid prospect, he first made his name as the second highest run-scorer of PCB’s 2018-19 Pentangular Cup, with 215 runs in 4 matches at an average of 71.6. The only person to score more runs was Shehzad at 309, and the next best being Aseer Mughal at 170 runs (indicating a significant gap in quality between the first two and the rest of the chart). Later that same year, Haseebullah went on to record decent performances against the Australia U-16 side, and followed it up as the highest run scorer in the One-Day series against Bangladesh a few months later. This included a score of 129* as the opener. One of many prospects suddenly emerging from Balochistan, Haseebullah provides hope for the future of the region as a developing feeder pool for the Pakistan national team. His utility as a keeper is not to be understated, and it is hoped he gets the proper coaching and guidance to develop all his skills properly during these formative years.
Ahmed Khan: Last but not the least, Ahmed Khan is a potential 140-145+ right-arm fast bowler and right-handed batsman from Swabi. The young lad can bat a little bit down the order as well, and is one of the many up and coming fast bowlers emerging from Pakistan’s Northern areas in the last few years, indicating some serious talent in the region. He performed well in the Pentangular tournament as the best U-16 fast-bowler in the country, and followed it up with regular finishes of 2-3 wickets per match against Australia and Bangladesh in 2019. If he works on his batting, he will no doubt be one for the future.
Feel free to pitch in with your thoughts and if you know of any other rising stars. The purpose of this thread is to raise awareness about exciting youngsters, and track their progress through U-19 to watch them develop. Excited for the upcoming U-19 domestic tournament.
Umar Eman: Beginning with Eman, he is the former Pakistan U-16 Captain. Hailing from Lahore, Eman was the skipper of the side in one series against Australia in Dubai, beating them 3-2 in the One-Day series and 1-0 in the one-off T20 match. Eman is notable for being an all-rounder with interesting characteristics: he is a left-handed batsman, but bowls right-arm leg spin. A smart, confident lad, Eman shows a sensible head on his shoulders and leads by example on the field in batting, bowling, and fitness. He is well spoken, has appeared in numerous interviews at the U-16 level, and is being groomed along with the other names on this list by the PCB as far as diet, exercise, fielding, and media-handling are concerned. Eman will likely captain the Central Punjab U-19 side, and remains a contender for the national side as well.
Faisal Akram: One of the highest-rated up and coming prospects in the circuit, if there is one person to keep an eye on, it is Faisal Akram — a left-arm wristspin/chinaman bowler from Multan. He’s been rated by the Pakistan U-19 staff for some years now, has already bowled to Muhammad Hafeez and Fakhar Zaman in the nets at a young age, and is uniquely notable for being the only chinaman in the entirety of Pakistan’s 2018-19 U-16 Pentangular Cup — a tournament where Akram finished as the best bowler in the tournament with 10 wickets in 5 matches for KPK. Immediately selected for the Pakistan U-16 team following these performances, Akram finished as Pakistan’s highest wicket-taker against Australia across the 2019 One-Day series in Dubai, including a 5-fer to bowl Australia out for 140 in 38 overs. Akram is in fact currently being scouted by the Multan Sultans as a potential recruit in the emerging category for either PSL 6 or 7; he already has an informal offer from Ali Khan Tareen, who has been providing support for almost two years now. Akram can bat a bit, which gives him great utility as a strong future player for Pakistan, and though a quiet lad, he has an immense hunger for the game which is no doubt an asset for any rising spinner. Akram is smart and does well at school, and comes from a hard-working family of 9 siblings, including one older brother who plays cricket part-time to managing the household, and another on his way to becoming a doctor. Interestingly, Faisal Akram occasionally speaks to Hardik Pandya, and has a bat gifted to him by the Indian star.
Muhammad Shehzad: Shehzad is a batting all-rounder hailing from Jhang, Punjab, and bowls right-arm medium-fast. He bats between the opener and one-down positions, as part of PCB’s age group policy to bat their best players in the top 3. He first made a name for himself in PCB’s 2018-19 U-16 Pentangular tournament, where the young lad scored a mammoth 309 runs in 5 matches for KPK at an average of 103. Fast-tracked to the Pakistan U-16 team, Shehzad excelled in a one-off T20 game against Australia (stringing together 73* in a 100-run partnership with Sameer Saqib to win a last-ball thriller) and continued his performances in the series against Bangladesh in 2019, where he scored successive scores of . Despite being one age-group younger, Shehzad was fast tracked for the Pakistan U-19 squad early in 2020 for the World Cup in South Africa, where he played 2 games before sitting out for Muhammad Hurraira. Shehzad is highly rated by both Mudassar Nazar and Ijaz Ahmed, who have indicated him as someone who can serve the Pakistan team well in the future as a utility player. Indeed, he may well be able to plug the batting-fast bowling-allrounder gap that our national team has been struggling to fill for over 10 years now.
Saim Ayub: Hailing from Sindh, Ayub is the former Pakistan U-16 captain and made headlines for his fantastic knock of 161* against Australia U16 in Melbourne, 2018. He is exceedingly dynamic and very exciting to watch play, and if his scores in Australia are anything to go by, he is one to watch given our national team’s struggles in the country. Though he will not be eligible for the 2022 U-19 World Cup, he is nevertheless one of the most exciting batting prospects from the current batch and will no doubt be one to follow. Here are some clips shared by Saj from 2 years ago:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">One to watch - 16 year old Saim Ayub who impressed for Pakistan Under 19s on their tour of Australia. 2 recent scores for Karachi Region Whites have been 100 off 80 balls (7x4s, 5x6s) and 104* off 102 balls (11x4s, 3x6s) in the Inter-Region Under 19 One-Day Tournament <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/5gwHv4CEFk">pic.twitter.com/5gwHv4CEFk</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1026107769802444801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Haseebullah Khan: A left-handed hard-hitting opener and keeper from Pishin, Quetta, Haseebullah is definitely one to look out for. A solid prospect, he first made his name as the second highest run-scorer of PCB’s 2018-19 Pentangular Cup, with 215 runs in 4 matches at an average of 71.6. The only person to score more runs was Shehzad at 309, and the next best being Aseer Mughal at 170 runs (indicating a significant gap in quality between the first two and the rest of the chart). Later that same year, Haseebullah went on to record decent performances against the Australia U-16 side, and followed it up as the highest run scorer in the One-Day series against Bangladesh a few months later. This included a score of 129* as the opener. One of many prospects suddenly emerging from Balochistan, Haseebullah provides hope for the future of the region as a developing feeder pool for the Pakistan national team. His utility as a keeper is not to be understated, and it is hoped he gets the proper coaching and guidance to develop all his skills properly during these formative years.
Ahmed Khan: Last but not the least, Ahmed Khan is a potential 140-145+ right-arm fast bowler and right-handed batsman from Swabi. The young lad can bat a little bit down the order as well, and is one of the many up and coming fast bowlers emerging from Pakistan’s Northern areas in the last few years, indicating some serious talent in the region. He performed well in the Pentangular tournament as the best U-16 fast-bowler in the country, and followed it up with regular finishes of 2-3 wickets per match against Australia and Bangladesh in 2019. If he works on his batting, he will no doubt be one for the future.
Feel free to pitch in with your thoughts and if you know of any other rising stars. The purpose of this thread is to raise awareness about exciting youngsters, and track their progress through U-19 to watch them develop. Excited for the upcoming U-19 domestic tournament.
Even Bangladesh produces a Shakib, and Pakistan occasionally a Babar 
