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Was Hasan Raza actually 14 when he made his debut?

Paradox

Paradox

ODI Debutant
Joined
Oct 13, 2009
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11,407
Simple question needs simple answer. Discuss. Everybody says different things, I don't know what to believe.
 
Yes, I saw his debut match. He was indeed 14. And was considered a special talent.
 
Hasan Raza is one of the many Pakistanis given an early exposure to international cricket, although even by those standards his Test debut at the age of 14 years and 227 days was exceptional (doubts about his birthdate and medical tests later resulted in the PCB withdrawing the record claim - his actual age was uncertain, but was around 15 at the time of debut). He performed admirably, but was soon discarded and left in the wilderness, although he continued to perform well at domestic and A-team level. He was recalled against Australia at Sharjah in 2002-03, scoring 54* and 68, but both innings were slow. Two more Tests against Zimbabwe followed before he was again replaced. He is a wonderful timer of the ball and a treat to watch, but has been unable to reproduce his fluency or strokeplay on the international stage. He had his moments with the A team, leading them to victory in the EurAsia Cup in Abu Dhabi in 2006. However, he risked his chances of making a comeback by joining the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League.
 
lol, no he wasn't. For the record Piyush Chawla isn't 22 either. He's a frigging 27 year old guy. Was a senior of one my friend's at school. (mods delete post if objectionable :) )

128478.1.jpg
 
Statsman said:
lol, no he wasn't. For the record Piyush Chawla isn't 22 either. He's a frigging 27 year old guy. Was a senior of one my friend's at school. (mods delete post if objectionable :) )
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You are right , most of the subcontinent cricketers do not show their actual age.
 
I thought for something as historic as a 14 year old making his debut (Hasan Raza vs Zimbabwe in 1996) there would be videos, or atleast pictures, of that match. I can't find anything.
 
Paradox said:
I thought for something as historic as a 14 year old making his debut (Hasan Raza vs Zimbabwe in 1996) there would be videos, or atleast pictures, of that match. I can't find anything.
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If the match wasn't against Zimbabwe :p then you would have found it.
 
His FC record is still fantastic though. Hasn't played for Pakistan since 2005 I think, when Shoaib destroyed England in Pakistan?
 
I think he was around 15 at that time.... I saw him. He looked young, though I agree most players are far older than what there age shows in subcontinent.

The only ones who cannot tamper with there real age are children of famous people.

Like Imran Khan, Majid Khan etc.

Rohan gavaskar ( son of sunil gavaskar).

Others do manipulate.
 
Never given a proper chance which is a shame. Remember got a couple of tests against England which he seemed to show a bit of potential and scored a couple of 50's against Australia. Another "victim" of the Inzi, Yousuf and Younis class middle order though should of atleast got chances ahaead of Faisal Iqbal! Maybe he had no family or backing upstairs! (Shahid Nazir was another who actually wasn't give a chance and players like Junaid Zia were given chances ahead of them). Real shame!
 
There was no need to send him on a international tour at the age of 14. PCB could had groomed him for atleast5-6 more years and then give him a call up.
 
Maybe he will be the next Misbah and make a comeback in his 30s as a captain.
 
He was 16 when he made his debut. Still a great achievement.

Not as bad as Afridi though, he was around 20 when he made his debut, not 16.

But the biscuit was taken by this guy called Tariq Khan, who was playing under-19 cricket (zonal). He was the father of 2 kids and as per him still had 2 years of U-19 cricket left to play.

others who reduced their age, were Faisal Iqbal (by one year) so that he could play in the U-15 WC.
 
Its really a shame that Hasan Raza has played less test matches than Faisal Iqbal (7 compared to 26) :facepalm:
 
srh said:
Its really a shame that Hasan Raza has played less test matches than Faisal Iqbal (7 compared to 26) :facepalm:
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Not really, personally i think Hasan is a flat track bully and is scared of the faster stuff.

evident from his timid innings vs England in 2005.

Technically he may be better than Faisal, but to be fair to Faisal, he has a lot more guts.
 
I remember when he came to bat and he looked very scared. He couldn't touch any balls and then Wasim Akram had to come out of dressing room and his hand gesture was just to stop the ball no need to go for runs.
 
he was as much 14 yrs old as afridi was 16 at the time of debut
 
Raza's record may be struck off books
By Geoffrey Dean in Lahore
29 October 1996
HASSAN RAZA'S record as the youngest Test cricketer may now not stand after the Pakistan Board declared that they were not prepared to accept that his birth date was in March 1982. They believe him to be 15.

Raza made his Test debut against Zimbabwe in Faisalabad last week, scored 27 in the first innings and was not required to bat in the second.

Chief executive Majid Khan revealed yesterday that the board decided to conduct forensic bone tests last June to establish the age of all those selected for the under-15 World Cup in England and for Pakistan's recent under-19 tour to the West Indies. ``All the boys produced birth certificates but we were very sceptical about them as they're often doctored in Pakistan,'' said Majid, conscious that birth dates of several recent Test players have been ridiculed outside Pakistan.

``We decided that the only way to authenticate age was to do medical tests. The board's policy is that we will now be going by them.'' These were carried out at Imran Khan's Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital in Lahore. Raza was found by radiologist Dr Zia Faruqi to be ``around 15''.

The board were happy that Raza did not contravene qualification rules for the under-15 World Cup, but 10 other boys originally selected for it were found to be over-age. The same applied to a further six for the under-19 tour. The former received one-year bans and the latter two years from all tournaments organised by the board (but not club cricket).

It was recently revealed that the captain of India's World Cup-winning under-15 side, Reetinder Sodhi, was exposed as a 17-year-old in a court case in India, upon his return home.

The radiology reports conducted by the Pakistanis also estimated that Shahid Afridi, who made the fastest one-day international hundred, off 37 balls against Sri Lanka in Kenya last month, was 19 not 16. Given the maturity of both Raza and Afridi, the board's revelations are not a great surprise. What is surprising is that the board did not make them public at the time of Raza's selection last Wednesday.

Majid was a little sheepish about the non-disclosure: ``It wasn't a deliberate delay - it was just that I had too much work on and the days went by.''

Matthew Engel, editor of Wisden, the guardian of all cricketing records, will now have to decide whether to include Raza as the youngest Test cricketer, given that the Pakistan board will not accept him as such.

Engel said yesterday: ``If the Pakistan Board are casting doubt then clearly Wisden wouldn't accept it. We're deep into footnote territory.''

He said, however, that there would be no sense of outrage at the apparent deception. ``Lying about your age has a long and honourable tradition.''

http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/A...AK/ARTICLES/RAZA_RECORD_STRUCK_29OCT1996.html
 
be him 14-or 16 there was a lot of hype around him.
but also heard he has a bad temprement, and had discipline issues,

i doubt we wil ever see him in international colors again,

time to move on
 
He may or may not have been 14(probably around 16-17) but either way, he was chosen too early (probably so that he could get the record)and it has ended in tears and destroyed a promising career. I once played against him in a club match and i was keen to talk to him but when i saw a can of Fosters lager in his hand i ignored the loser and walked off.
 
Pretty sure listed ages arent 100 %. Shoaib Malik admitted he was actually an year older than his listed age on 'aik din geo kay saath' show, if im remembering it correctly.
 
Test Cap for a 14yr old Hasan Raza....WTH?

Always baffled me this, so back in 1996 a test cap was given to a 14 year old Hasan Raza. Who would have been the decision makers at the time?

Were things going so well that the board felt it could do crazy experiments like that.

Was he really that good?

Anyone with some insight into the mindset of pcb and team setup during that era would be interesting.
 
He was a 'Pakistani 14 year old', if you get my drift

Should have gotten more chances over the years though

but the Younus - Moyo - Inzi era made it hard for a lot of players. The next spot was usually reserved for the sirfarish
 
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I remember his test debut vs Zimbabwe on a slow Faisalabad wicket. He struck a few beautiful cover drives and looked technically compact. His selection looked justified in that innings, but then it came apart when he was exposed in different conditions and tracks.

He went on to become a domestic giant.
 
I thought it was established he was about 15 or so and not that much older. So definitely not the same age as Afridi.

But yea he has been one of the biggest waste of talent in Pakistan. He was not given a chance when he was at his peak in the early 2000s. No grooming whatsoever. Played 7 tests and was discarded as a failure so people like Shoaib Malik could play. He once scored dual 50's against Australia in a game where everyone else completely flopped.
 
Pretty sure his age is real... but pcb were trying to be cute and going for a record
 
I think the official record went back to Mushtaq Mohammed, but I think Raza's actual age was either 15/16.
 
Wasted talent for sure. Should have played a lot more.
 
Masterji said:
He may or may not have been 14(probably around 16-17) but either way, he was chosen too early (probably so that he could get the record)and it has ended in tears and destroyed a promising career. I once played against him in a club match and i was keen to talk to him but when i saw a can of Fosters lager in his hand i ignored the loser and walked off.
Click to expand...

Heaven forbid he drinks alcohol out of his own free will :facepalm:
 
Masterji said:
He may or may not have been 14(probably around 16-17) but either way, he was chosen too early (probably so that he could get the record)and it has ended in tears and destroyed a promising career. I once played against him in a club match and i was keen to talk to him but when i saw a can of Fosters lager in his hand i ignored the loser and walked off.
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He has a taste for lager, what a big deal. How dare he?
 
Salman said:
Always baffled me this, so back in 1996 a test cap was given to a 14 year old Hasan Raza. Who would have been the decision makers at the time?

Were things going so well that the board felt it could do crazy experiments like that.

Was he really that good?

Anyone with some insight into the mindset of pcb and team setup during that era would be interesting.
Click to expand...

you really wonder?

Some of the decision making during that time when you look at them today seems ridiculous :facepalm:

I guess due to the lack of media, PCB could potentially get away with anything as there would be no media storm. In that period, alleged teenagers were handed debuts for fun lol. Ata Ur Rehman, Hasan Raza, Afridi, Malik, Imran Nazir, Fazl E Akbar, Farhat, Saqlain, Shahid Nazir were all around 18 or younger when they made their debuts within a span of 4-5 years. Surely apart from a few, they were all considerably older
 
I have played grade cricket with a current Hampshire player ( wont name him for obvious reasons). He claims that Mudassar Naser told him that Misbah is 40 years old and Younus was 39. This happened 2 years ago

Apart from that Abdul Razzaq openly admits he is older than his offical age. Afridi is on the same boat, he is actually around 37 i think
 
pakistanigoneaussie said:
I have played grade cricket with a current Hampshire player ( wont name him for obvious reasons). He claims that Mudassar Naser told him that Misbah is 40 years old and Younus was 39. This happened 2 years ago

Apart from that Abdul Razzaq openly admits he is older than his offical age. Afridi is on the same boat, he is actually around 37 i think
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Afridi, Razzaq and Younis have both admitted their actual age is older. YK said he was born in 1975 whereas Afridi and Razzaq have both admitted that they are around 3 years older. Though in Razzaq's case I suspect he might be even older as he wasn't forthcoming. Guy started to lose his pace at the age of 25 lol
 
Salman said:
Always baffled me this, so back in 1996 a test cap was given to a 14 year old Hasan Raza. Who would have been the decision makers at the time?

Were things going so well that the board felt it could do crazy experiments like that.

Was he really that good?

Anyone with some insight into the mindset of pcb and team setup during that era would be interesting.
Click to expand...

He was a proper batsman from what I saw, unlike the block/slog hacks who fill the side these days. Very good player of spin, but was found wanting in foreign conditions IIRC. He was probably exposed to international cricket too early, I think if he'd played abroad for a season and got to play in bowler friendly conditions he might have gone on to be a very decent batsmen.
 
Why is it still such a problem in Pakistan? I can understand 40 years ago, most births weren't officially registered but even just 20 years ago? There's current u19s players that seem to have dodgy ages.

At least Hasan Raza has made a decent career, not many current players have scored as many FC runs or have as good an average at him.
 
Gigii said:
Why is it still such a problem in Pakistan? I can understand 40 years ago, most births weren't officially registered but even just 20 years ago? There's current u19s players that seem to have dodgy ages.

At least Hasan Raza has made a decent career, not many current players have scored as many FC runs or have as good an average at him.
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cultural issue
 
The then PCB wanted to replay to India's Sachin with Raza
 
Definitely wasn't 14 but he was still very young, I'd say about 19.

The PCB destroyed so many careers back then by playing guys too early. The amount of talent coming out of Pakistan back then was astonishing.
 
Salman said:
Always baffled me this, so back in 1996 a test cap was given to a 14 year old Hasan Raza. Who would have been the decision makers at the time?

Were things going so well that the board felt it could do crazy experiments like that.

Was he really that good?

Anyone with some insight into the mindset of pcb and team setup during that era would be interesting.
Click to expand...

If he was really 14 at the time of debut then he would still be playing cricket with huge achievements under hid belt.
 
starting his career that early regardless of age at international career pretty much killed his career off, he wasnt ready for international cricket at that point.
 
Well it cannot happen now.

===


The International Cricket Council (ICC) yesterday said in a press release that players who are aged 15 years and above are eligible to participate in international cricket- men's and women's cricket and Under-19 engagements- for the respective international sides.

The ICC, in a statement, said, "The board has confirmed the introduction of minimum age restrictions for international cricket to improve safeguarding of players which will apply across all cricket inclusive of the ICC events, bilateral series, and U19 cricket. To play any form of cricket- men's, women's, and Under19 international cricket, players must be minimum of 15 years of age"
Previously, age was no bar for players to represent their nation in international cricket. The youngest player to have played international cricket was Pakistan's Hasan Raza who made his Test debut at the age of 14 years and 227 days. He went on to play international cricket till 2005 and represented Pakistan in 7 Tests and 16 ODIs.

Sachin Tendulkar was the youngest player to have played international cricket for India, debuting against Pakistan in 1989 at the age of 16 years and 205 days. Sachin Tendulkar finished his career with 15,921 runs in Test matches and 18,426 runs in ODIs.

Bangladesh's Mohammad Ashraful holds the record for being the youngest player to have scored an international ton. He was 17 years and 61 days when he achieved this feat against Sri Lanka when he scored 114 runs.

Shivam Mavi, Prithwi Shaw, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, and Shubhman Gill have been instrumental for their respective franchises in IPL so far
The U19 international tournaments and franchise tournaments like the IPL, BBL, CPL, and NatWest T20 Blast have been a good stage for young players to show their talents. Exciting prospects like Prithwi Shaw, Shubhman Gill, Tom Banton, Jaydon Seales, and Rachin Ravindra have come to the fore through their performances at domestic and league levels. Other notable names to have played with success in these leagues at a young age include Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and Manish Pandey from IPL, and Steve Smith and Moises Henriques from the Australian Big Bash.

https://www.sportskeeda.com/cricket...rs-minimum-age-become-international-cricketer
 
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