(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Pakistani spinners vow to hunt in pairs in Abu Dhabi.
Pakistan spinner Zulfiqar Babar bowls during a training session on Tuesday. Photo by Nezar Balout/ Khaleej Times
Abu Dhabi: Zulfiqar Babar is relishing his days under the sun after an international career which looked a tad too late in coming. An impressive performer the left-arm spinner foxed batsmen in domestic cricket back in Pakistan year after year. But it took more than a decade for the soft-spoken man to get the call of duty for Pakistan.
It could well possibly be that he wouldn’t have made it too but those thoughts never crossed his mind. He just put his head down and did his job and kept performing until opportunity knocked on his door. He had left it up to God and believes that God knows what one needs and when to give it. And he also never looks back on what might have been had he made his debut earlier.
He made his debut against South Africa in the Test series in 2013 in the UAE. And he has stepped up as the frontline spinner in the enforced absence of Saeed Ajmal. The wily left-armer returned with a match-haul of seven wickets including a five-for in the second dig as Pakistan rolled over Australia by 221 runs.
“I never thought that I will never make it to the international level. I wanted to keep working hard and I always thought whenever I will get an opportunity I will grab it and try to do well for the country. Allah very well knows when to give someone what he needs and how much to give. So I have never got that feeling that I should have played before and if that would have happened I would have taken more wickets. I always hoped that I will play for Pakistan and worked hard. As soon as I got the opportunity I performed” Zulfiqar said as Pakistan trained at the Shaikh Zayed International Cricket Stadium ahead of the Abu Dhabi Test. Zulfiqar though did take a long sabbatical from first-class cricket for five years from 2003 because of politics in the system. But he returned after 2007 after things got better.
“I did leave cricket for couple of years in between. You know if you are playing first-class sometimes there is a little bit of politics. There was some opposition and I didn’t get the opportunities because of it. Now thankfully everything is fine and there is no opposition and everyone has supported me and I want to thank everyone” he revealed.
At 35 he has perhaps got the opportunity a little late in the day but Zulfiqar felt that he has a lot to give and pointed out to the longevity of his captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan. Misbah is 40 while Younis is 36.
“Till the time I’m fit I will keep playing and the perfect example of that is Misbah and Younis. They are still fit and I will try to follow them and will try to put in the same hard work they are putting in” said Zulfiqar. He and debutant leg spinner Yasir Shah took 14 wickets between them in the Dubai Test and Zulfiqar said that they have combined really well.
“Yasir Shah did really well and supported me. We have played lot of first-class cricket and we both have played together for a long time. The combination between us worked really well and we could help the team” he said.
He also revealed that he had been working on the one that skids onto the batsmen which Australia had no answer to.
“That has been my weapon. I have been working hard on that for a long time. I use to try to get couple of breaks in the over to get that drift and that happened. I got that and I was successful in getting wickets” he added.
jameskhaleejtimes.com
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.