The name Zia ul Haq, for some, may conjure up images of the Late Pakistani Army General who ruled Pakistan between 1977 and 1988. However in the coming months and years that name may well become associated with a teenage left arm pace bowler who is already making a name for himself in Pakistani cricketing circles.
Hailing from the city of Vehari, in Punjab, the very same city that produced the legendary fast bowler Waqar Younis, Zia ul Haq is a tall wiry left arm pace bowler who has caught the eye of coaches, fans, his fellow professionals and the media during his short career. On his domestic T20 debut in the recently concluded Super 8s and in front of a sell out crowd of 15,000 at the Rawalpindi stadium and in front of millions watching the action, Zia took 5 for 23 against Faisalabad in a superb spell of seam and swing bowling and regularly touched the 140kph mark.
Zia has been gently eased into first class cricket by PIA since signing for them and made his first class debut in October 2010 at the age of 15 against Islamabad in a Quaid E Azam Trophy fixture in which he had match figures of 5 for 89 in 27.3 overs. His debut season in first class saw him take 10 wickets in 4 matches at just under 29 apiece. In his second first class season he played in 3 Quaid E Azam Trophy matches taking 9 wickets at just over 20 apiece.
With competition for places intense in the fast bowling department at PIA and given Zia’s tender years, his opportunities in first class cricket have been limited. This, however, could now be a thing of the past after his impressive debut spell in the Super 8s in front of Pakistan coaches Dav Whatmore and Julien Fountain as well as the national selection committee.
It was in the National One Day Cup first division last year where Zia really caught the eye for PIA, taking 13 wickets in 7 matches at an economy rate of just under 4.5. According to team mates Zia bowled with hostility, passion and even on slow wickets hurried the opposition batsmen. Zia’s team mate at PIA, Anwar Ali speaking with PakPassion.net last month stated that he felt that Zia had a very bright future in cricket.
Speaking with PakPassion.net Zia explained how his interest in cricket grew from school level and how he started to take cricket more seriously once he went to the Gaggoo Mandi cricket club under the tutorship of Nadeem Iqbal. He also spoke of watching videos of Wasim Akram as his inspiration to become a first class cricketer which eventually led to his current stint with PIA.
“Like most Pakistani boys I would watch cricket on television whenever I could and try and emulate my heroes. I’d watch Pakistan matches on television and then try and copy what I saw from the bowlers. We also had at home a collection of old matches and I loved watching videos of those matches. At school in Vehari the standard of cricket was not great, it was more like a fun activity and whilst I played cricket for the school team it wasn’t until I started attending the Gaggoo Mandi cricket club that I started to take my cricket more seriously.”
“My cricket coach at school advised me to go for local trials where coaches from the Multan region would be attending. He stated that I stood a good chance of being spotted by one of the coaches who would be in attendance. At first I wasn’t sure as I didn’t want to attend the trials and then be overlooked, so it was a tough decision. After much deliberation with my family I decided to attend the trials and to give it my best shot. There were so many good cricketers there and I really thought that with so much talent around, I stood little chance of being spotted. There were hundreds of boys there of all differing ages and the coaches watched the matches in progress, trying to spot the talent for their cricket clubs” stated Zia.
Amongst the hundreds of boys at the trials, Zia was spotted by Gaggoo Mandi cricket club’s head coach Nadeem Iqbal who is a former first class fast bowler of repute and a coach who had nurtured talent like Mohammad Zahid, Mohammad Irfan, Naved Yasin and others over the years.
“Nadeem Iqbal spotted me bowling at the trials and asked me to start training with Gaggoo Mandi. He was very complimentary and I could tell that he was keen for me to go and train at his club. After the trials my family spoke with Nadeem and they were impressed with what he had to say and how he was willing to give me a chance at the club” stated Zia.
“I then started to train with Nadeem (Iqbal) and the other boys at the Gaggoo Mandi cricket club. It was my first formal cricket coaching as prior to that it had been mainly self taught, with a few basic instructions from the school coaches. I would go to the club on my bicycle whenever training was taking place and also for matches. Those who have ridden a bicycle in Pakistan will know that it can be a hazardous occupation, but the distance I had to travel on my bicycle and the dangers I encountered didn’t deter me. I just wanted to work hard and to improve my cricketing skills as by the time I started training at Gaggoo Mandi I had made my mind up that I wanted to be a professional cricketer.”
Zia continued “Training with the other boys at the club was an eye opener, the coaching was very strict yet enjoyable. You knew you were in an environment where the coaches and the boys themselves were aware that hard work was imperative. It wasn’t a place for the faint hearted and those that just wanted to take things easy. I found it very tough at first as I had not been used to the training and physical exertions required when bowling fast, but Nadeem (Iqbal) told me from the outset that I had a lot of talent, however he had seen a lot of talented cricketers come and go and that some cricketers think they are better than what they actually are and that overconfidence can hinder their progress. He (Nadeem) also said to me that he had seen a lot of positive aspects in my cricket during the trials and that he felt that if I had good work ethics in me, he could help me, but ‘you have to be able to help yourself and have a willingness to learn and not just rely on being hand fed’. Those words from Nadeem Iqbal still ring in my ears and I’m always wary of the fact that I need to work hard to improve.”
Zia’s cricketing journey then saw him continue to work at Gaggoo Mandi cricket club with Nadeem Iqbal and eventual selection for Multan Under 16s. He also attended Under 19 camps in the Multan region despite being several years younger than his counterparts.
PIA’s close links with Gaggoo Mandi cricket club then saw Zia being presented with an opportunity to impress the coaches there. Zia recalls how he was chosen by Nadeem Iqbal and the late Malik Shafqat who was the president of the club to attend a talent hunt at PIA.
“There were trials for PIA under 19s taking place in Karachi and Nadeem and Malik Shafqat told me that I should go to Karachi and do my best at the trials. They said to me it was a huge opportunity for me and that I should go there and give my all. I turned up in Karachi for the trials that were being supervised by Shoaib Mohammad and Zahid Ahmed. There were literally hundreds of boys there all eager to impress. I did my best there, thought it went well and then returned home. I had no idea whether I had impressed the PIA coaches or not, as there were so many talented boys there.”
“After a few days my parents received a phone call from PIA that I had made the shortlist of 40 and that I would be required to attend a second trial. I went back to Karachi and they told us that from the shortlist of 40, they would be selecting a final list of 15 of us for their academy and Under 19 teams. The PIA coaches made videos of each of us bowling and batting. The second trial went well too and fortunately I made the cut for the 15 available places.”
Zia’s first class opportunities with PIA have been limited due to intense competition and also due to him being an integral part of the Pakistan Under 19 set up. Zia had an impressive tour of South Africa with the Pakistan Under 19s and in the tri series against the hosts and Zimbabwe he took 12 wickets in 7 matches at an economy rate of 3.88 and an average of 14.83. Following the tri series, Pakistan Under 19s played a 3 match series of 50 over matches against South Africa Under 19s and in that series Zia took 5 wickets at an economy rate of 3.58 and an average of 17.20. Zia feels that the tour of South Africa was very important in his development as a cricketer and also hopes to carry that good form though to the Under 19 World Cup in Australia in August.
“It was my first overseas tour and I really enjoyed the tour of South Africa at the start of the year and it was nice to be bowling on surfaces that offered something to the quick bowlers. I feel the tour definitely improved me as a bowler, I learnt a lot from that tour and I feel these tours are very important to young cricketers like myself. The Under 19 World Cup in Australia later this year should be a great event and I’m really looking forward to it. Pakistan has a good record in such events and hopefully we can continue that good record” added Zia.
Unsurprising the southpaw’s favourite cricketer and the cricketer that he would dearly love to emulate, is former PIA, Pakistan and Lancashire fast bowler Wasim Akram, a cricketer who Zia terms as his inspiration to play cricket.
“Wasim Akram has always been my inspiration, I just loved watching him bowl. I only watched him when he was at the tail end of his illustrious career but the collection of videos and DVDs of his bowling have always been an inspiration to me. He would be the bowler that I would pretend to be when we were playing in the streets or at school. He’s definitely my hero.”
Zia has only met Wasim Akram once and that was after a practice session for PIA, but he explains how he was so overawed by the experience and so nervous that he could not utter a word to Akram.
“We had just finished a practice session with PIA and were sitting and relaxing on the outfield. Wasim (Akram) as an ex PIA cricketer still keeps in touch with the PIA setup and he turned up that particular day. Unfortunately he did not get a chance to see my bowling as the session had ended. When I saw Wasim, I was so nervous that I couldn’t say anything to him. He was chatting to some of the other players but I was just too shy to speak with him. Hopefully at some point in the future I will see him again and this time I am determined to speak with him and get some advice regarding my bowling.”
Zia is currently in Lahore at the National Cricket Academy working with the NCA coaches on his bowling as well as on his levels of fitness and strengthening. Whilst at the NCA, a certain Dav Whatmore has also been keeping an eye on Zia and the head coach has offered a few words of encouragement to him.
“It’s good to be at the NCA working with some of the best coaches in the country. You are working with them on a one to one basis and it really helps. Whilst there is no domestic cricket or Under 19 cricket taking place I felt it was necessary to work on my bowling at the NCA. It’s also very encouraging to see that Dav Whatmore has come to see me at the NCA and he said to me to keep working hard on my bowling and to keep up the good work.”
Hailing from the city of Vehari, in Punjab, the very same city that produced the legendary fast bowler Waqar Younis, Zia ul Haq is a tall wiry left arm pace bowler who has caught the eye of coaches, fans, his fellow professionals and the media during his short career. On his domestic T20 debut in the recently concluded Super 8s and in front of a sell out crowd of 15,000 at the Rawalpindi stadium and in front of millions watching the action, Zia took 5 for 23 against Faisalabad in a superb spell of seam and swing bowling and regularly touched the 140kph mark.
Zia has been gently eased into first class cricket by PIA since signing for them and made his first class debut in October 2010 at the age of 15 against Islamabad in a Quaid E Azam Trophy fixture in which he had match figures of 5 for 89 in 27.3 overs. His debut season in first class saw him take 10 wickets in 4 matches at just under 29 apiece. In his second first class season he played in 3 Quaid E Azam Trophy matches taking 9 wickets at just over 20 apiece.
With competition for places intense in the fast bowling department at PIA and given Zia’s tender years, his opportunities in first class cricket have been limited. This, however, could now be a thing of the past after his impressive debut spell in the Super 8s in front of Pakistan coaches Dav Whatmore and Julien Fountain as well as the national selection committee.
It was in the National One Day Cup first division last year where Zia really caught the eye for PIA, taking 13 wickets in 7 matches at an economy rate of just under 4.5. According to team mates Zia bowled with hostility, passion and even on slow wickets hurried the opposition batsmen. Zia’s team mate at PIA, Anwar Ali speaking with PakPassion.net last month stated that he felt that Zia had a very bright future in cricket.
Speaking with PakPassion.net Zia explained how his interest in cricket grew from school level and how he started to take cricket more seriously once he went to the Gaggoo Mandi cricket club under the tutorship of Nadeem Iqbal. He also spoke of watching videos of Wasim Akram as his inspiration to become a first class cricketer which eventually led to his current stint with PIA.
“Like most Pakistani boys I would watch cricket on television whenever I could and try and emulate my heroes. I’d watch Pakistan matches on television and then try and copy what I saw from the bowlers. We also had at home a collection of old matches and I loved watching videos of those matches. At school in Vehari the standard of cricket was not great, it was more like a fun activity and whilst I played cricket for the school team it wasn’t until I started attending the Gaggoo Mandi cricket club that I started to take my cricket more seriously.”
“My cricket coach at school advised me to go for local trials where coaches from the Multan region would be attending. He stated that I stood a good chance of being spotted by one of the coaches who would be in attendance. At first I wasn’t sure as I didn’t want to attend the trials and then be overlooked, so it was a tough decision. After much deliberation with my family I decided to attend the trials and to give it my best shot. There were so many good cricketers there and I really thought that with so much talent around, I stood little chance of being spotted. There were hundreds of boys there of all differing ages and the coaches watched the matches in progress, trying to spot the talent for their cricket clubs” stated Zia.
Amongst the hundreds of boys at the trials, Zia was spotted by Gaggoo Mandi cricket club’s head coach Nadeem Iqbal who is a former first class fast bowler of repute and a coach who had nurtured talent like Mohammad Zahid, Mohammad Irfan, Naved Yasin and others over the years.
“Nadeem Iqbal spotted me bowling at the trials and asked me to start training with Gaggoo Mandi. He was very complimentary and I could tell that he was keen for me to go and train at his club. After the trials my family spoke with Nadeem and they were impressed with what he had to say and how he was willing to give me a chance at the club” stated Zia.
“I then started to train with Nadeem (Iqbal) and the other boys at the Gaggoo Mandi cricket club. It was my first formal cricket coaching as prior to that it had been mainly self taught, with a few basic instructions from the school coaches. I would go to the club on my bicycle whenever training was taking place and also for matches. Those who have ridden a bicycle in Pakistan will know that it can be a hazardous occupation, but the distance I had to travel on my bicycle and the dangers I encountered didn’t deter me. I just wanted to work hard and to improve my cricketing skills as by the time I started training at Gaggoo Mandi I had made my mind up that I wanted to be a professional cricketer.”
Zia continued “Training with the other boys at the club was an eye opener, the coaching was very strict yet enjoyable. You knew you were in an environment where the coaches and the boys themselves were aware that hard work was imperative. It wasn’t a place for the faint hearted and those that just wanted to take things easy. I found it very tough at first as I had not been used to the training and physical exertions required when bowling fast, but Nadeem (Iqbal) told me from the outset that I had a lot of talent, however he had seen a lot of talented cricketers come and go and that some cricketers think they are better than what they actually are and that overconfidence can hinder their progress. He (Nadeem) also said to me that he had seen a lot of positive aspects in my cricket during the trials and that he felt that if I had good work ethics in me, he could help me, but ‘you have to be able to help yourself and have a willingness to learn and not just rely on being hand fed’. Those words from Nadeem Iqbal still ring in my ears and I’m always wary of the fact that I need to work hard to improve.”
Zia’s cricketing journey then saw him continue to work at Gaggoo Mandi cricket club with Nadeem Iqbal and eventual selection for Multan Under 16s. He also attended Under 19 camps in the Multan region despite being several years younger than his counterparts.
PIA’s close links with Gaggoo Mandi cricket club then saw Zia being presented with an opportunity to impress the coaches there. Zia recalls how he was chosen by Nadeem Iqbal and the late Malik Shafqat who was the president of the club to attend a talent hunt at PIA.
“There were trials for PIA under 19s taking place in Karachi and Nadeem and Malik Shafqat told me that I should go to Karachi and do my best at the trials. They said to me it was a huge opportunity for me and that I should go there and give my all. I turned up in Karachi for the trials that were being supervised by Shoaib Mohammad and Zahid Ahmed. There were literally hundreds of boys there all eager to impress. I did my best there, thought it went well and then returned home. I had no idea whether I had impressed the PIA coaches or not, as there were so many talented boys there.”
“After a few days my parents received a phone call from PIA that I had made the shortlist of 40 and that I would be required to attend a second trial. I went back to Karachi and they told us that from the shortlist of 40, they would be selecting a final list of 15 of us for their academy and Under 19 teams. The PIA coaches made videos of each of us bowling and batting. The second trial went well too and fortunately I made the cut for the 15 available places.”
Zia’s first class opportunities with PIA have been limited due to intense competition and also due to him being an integral part of the Pakistan Under 19 set up. Zia had an impressive tour of South Africa with the Pakistan Under 19s and in the tri series against the hosts and Zimbabwe he took 12 wickets in 7 matches at an economy rate of 3.88 and an average of 14.83. Following the tri series, Pakistan Under 19s played a 3 match series of 50 over matches against South Africa Under 19s and in that series Zia took 5 wickets at an economy rate of 3.58 and an average of 17.20. Zia feels that the tour of South Africa was very important in his development as a cricketer and also hopes to carry that good form though to the Under 19 World Cup in Australia in August.
“It was my first overseas tour and I really enjoyed the tour of South Africa at the start of the year and it was nice to be bowling on surfaces that offered something to the quick bowlers. I feel the tour definitely improved me as a bowler, I learnt a lot from that tour and I feel these tours are very important to young cricketers like myself. The Under 19 World Cup in Australia later this year should be a great event and I’m really looking forward to it. Pakistan has a good record in such events and hopefully we can continue that good record” added Zia.
Unsurprising the southpaw’s favourite cricketer and the cricketer that he would dearly love to emulate, is former PIA, Pakistan and Lancashire fast bowler Wasim Akram, a cricketer who Zia terms as his inspiration to play cricket.
“Wasim Akram has always been my inspiration, I just loved watching him bowl. I only watched him when he was at the tail end of his illustrious career but the collection of videos and DVDs of his bowling have always been an inspiration to me. He would be the bowler that I would pretend to be when we were playing in the streets or at school. He’s definitely my hero.”
Zia has only met Wasim Akram once and that was after a practice session for PIA, but he explains how he was so overawed by the experience and so nervous that he could not utter a word to Akram.
“We had just finished a practice session with PIA and were sitting and relaxing on the outfield. Wasim (Akram) as an ex PIA cricketer still keeps in touch with the PIA setup and he turned up that particular day. Unfortunately he did not get a chance to see my bowling as the session had ended. When I saw Wasim, I was so nervous that I couldn’t say anything to him. He was chatting to some of the other players but I was just too shy to speak with him. Hopefully at some point in the future I will see him again and this time I am determined to speak with him and get some advice regarding my bowling.”
Zia is currently in Lahore at the National Cricket Academy working with the NCA coaches on his bowling as well as on his levels of fitness and strengthening. Whilst at the NCA, a certain Dav Whatmore has also been keeping an eye on Zia and the head coach has offered a few words of encouragement to him.
“It’s good to be at the NCA working with some of the best coaches in the country. You are working with them on a one to one basis and it really helps. Whilst there is no domestic cricket or Under 19 cricket taking place I felt it was necessary to work on my bowling at the NCA. It’s also very encouraging to see that Dav Whatmore has come to see me at the NCA and he said to me to keep working hard on my bowling and to keep up the good work.”
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would be the next 
