Colombo, Sep 14: The endless chain of fast bowlers that Pakistan has produced over the years has been the envy point of other cricketing nations. Zaman Khan is the latest to join that illustrious line.
But there is a slight difference to Zaman. Perhaps, he is the first slinger fast bowler a la Lasith Malinga to play for Pakistan in international cricket.
Zaman was drafted into Pakistan’s Asia Cup squad on Wednesday after Naseem Shah was ruled out due to a shoulder injury.
Now, the cricketing world might be engaged in a frantic Google search to know more about Zaman, but the 21-year-old had to waddle through layers of difficulties to even start playing cricket.
The ever-endearing rags to riches story, if you may.
As it happens with many other Pakistan pacers, Zaman too cut his teeth in tape ball cricket in Mirpur, a small village in PoK.
Coming from a family of daily wage workers, Zaman was drawn to cricket from a very young age and found backing from his household to pursue his dream.
“My father and brothers are labourers. I started playing cricket after watching other boys in my street playing that sport. I used to skip classes at Madrasa to play cricket.
“One of my relatives told me to take part in an under-16 trial in my village after seeing how fast I was bowling. Fortunately, I got selected and my journey started,” Zaman said in a video posted by PCB.
Zaman took the next step when he was picked in the Pakistan under-19 team to tour Australia, an experience he termed as an eye-opener.
The pacer’s first big stage experience came when he was picked by Lahore Qalandars for Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022.
It was cathartic for him to rub shoulders with top stars of his country such as Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf.
Zaman made a mighty impression in his first PSL season, taking 18 wickets from 13 matches to finish third on the wicket-takers’ chart behind Afridi (20) and leg-spinner Shadab Khan (19).
His effort had played a big role in Lahore winning their maiden PSL title that year. (PTI)
