Hassan Raza eyes berth in UAE national side
Hassan Raza eyes berth in UAE national side
Pakistan’s former cricket player Hassan Raza has no plans to miss out on any action. He is still trying to get in United Arab Emirates (UAE) national side. He considers UAE as his ‘second home’. Raza’s sole purpose for playing in local cricket leagues and Masters Champions League was to pave his way through to get selected in national side. The 34 year old Raza made his debut when he was close to 15 years. He was the youngest cricketer to have made debut in Test Cricket but soon his date of birth and Pakistan Cricket Board had to pull out of the claim. However, he still does not pass the eligibility criteria to get selected in UAE team. Full Cricket Scorecard: Australia vs West Indies, Tri-Nation Series 2016, Match 3 at Guyana
Raza said, “Hopefully, I can play the next tour. I had a word with former coach Aaqib Javed. He told me to continue performing well in Bukhatir League and other tournaments. I got a hundred against UBL in the last match and another one in the semifinal”. He was the man-of-the-match in the final of the Techaccess ‘A’ division tournament played at Zayed Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Raza made his debut in 1996 but failed to gain a berth in Pakistan side on a regular basis. His record in the ODIs is not that impressive too. He failed to make it big in the international circuit despite a decent domestic record. He has 235 runs in 7 Tests and 242 runs in 16 ODIs at an average of 26.11 and 18.61 respectively.
But he has had an impressive run in domestic leagues,”I played for Habib Bank Limited and have scored 37 centuries in domestic leagues back home. I needed to move on and for the last 4-5 years I am playing here in local tournaments. Yes, I have left my domestic league back home. I am looking forward to big leagues and tournaments in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. This is my second home.”
Raza also tried his hand in Northern Ireland League and US. He claims that it helped him a lot. When asked about his decision to play for UAE and leaving Pakistan, he said, “I really miss my family.” He is optimistic about his fitness at this age. He has a rather positive take on it as he says, “Old is gold, I still hold the world record. I made my Test debut against Zimbabwe when I was 14 years. I hope to carry on and hopefully with the likes of UAE player Rohan Mustafa can deliver more useful partnerships.”