Published: Sep 16, 2016, 09:04 PM (IST)
Edited: Sep 16, 2016, 09:04 PM (IST)
Born January 17, 1997, Haseeb Hameed is one of the most promising batting talents in the England county circuit. He bats in the top-order and possesses sound technique to open the batting. He hogged the headlines for his surprise inclusion in the England Test side for the Bangladesh tour, which comprises of two Tests. He is expected to travel to India as well for upcoming Test series. Besides batting, Hameed also bowls right-arm leg-spin and right after his First-Class debut game for Lancashire in August 2015, he signed a four-year contract ahead of 2016 season with them. With Hameed’s surprise inclusion in the England’s Test side, Abhishek Kumar comes up with some intriguing and lesser-known facts about the young prodigy.
1. Batting Style
Hameed is a testament to orthodox cricket; he likes to play with a straight bat and looks technically composed at the crease. His head remains still and the balance is exactly what every budding cricket looks for. In this modern era of improvise batting, he looks another classy English batsman.
2. Possibility of becoming the youngest player from Lancashire for England
If he gets a chance to represent the English side in the Bangladesh tour, then he will become the youngest cricketer from Lanchashire County to play for the national side. Overall, he wll become the fifth youngest cricketer in the nation’s history. He is also the youngest cricketer to have played for Lancashire after World War II.
3. Nickname
Because of possessing good technique and solid defence, Hameed earned a nickname called ‘Bolton Blocker’. It was the Bolton school where he got his education from .
4. Influence
Hameed’s biggest influence is his father, Ismail who is also his coach and mentor.
5. Heroes
During his growing days, his biggest hero was Sachin Tendulkar and in contemporary cricket, Virat Kohli and Joe Root are his heroes.
6. Would like to build his physique
In an interview with ecb.co.uk, Hameed said that he would like to get more healthy by working out in the gym, which will enable him to play some big shots.
7. Goals
In the same interview, Hameed also said that his goal as a cricketer is to be a part of The Ashes-winning side and win the World Cup for England.
8. Broke Mike Atherton’s record
In the 2016 First-Class season, he scored over 1,000 runs and broke the previous record of Mike Atherton by becoming the youngest Lancashire player to have achieved this milestone.
9. Hundred in each innings
In August 2016, Hameed scored twin tons in a First-Class match against Yorkshire at Manchester. He scored 114 and an unbeaten 100 in both the innings of the match, which he calls as his proudest achievement so far. He became the fifth youngest to do this for Lancashire and first in any Roses match.
10. Sluggish strike-rate
Besides his impressive batting in First-Class, Hameed has a slow strike-rate of 38.84 from 19 games so far, though he averages 50.39, which surely matters the most with four hundreds and nine fifties so far.
11. Indian origin
His father, who played for Huddersfield Town, emigrated from Gujarat. He worked very hard on his son’s batting. The results can be seen.
12. Gareth Batty debut and a fun fact
While Hameed received his maiden Test call-up, off-spinner Gareth Batty, almost 39, has been recalled in the English side after 11 years. Batty made his First-Class debut for Yorkshire on April 16, 1997, Habeeb was three-month old at that time.
(Abhishek Kumar is a cricket devotee currently staffing with Criclife.com. He can be followed on Twitter @abhik2593 and on Facebook at abhicricket.kumar)
