Review of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s performance in the ICC World T20 2012 – Part Six
Continued from the previous part…
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sialkot-c842, was equally good, who impressed one and all with his ability to absorb pressure at such a young age.
The 20-year-old cricketer represented Pakistan in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 as a replacement
for the out of form http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Danish-Kaneria-c1314. However, the youngster was left out of the squad later on without getting an opportunity to showcase his skills.
After some superb performances in the domestic T20 events, the left-arm orthodox spinner regained the selectors’ confidence for the T20 series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 earlier this year but failed to break into the playing-11 once again.
However, a finger injury to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adam-John-Crosthwaite-c41922 cricketer to showcase his potential. It was never going to be an easy task to
deliver the goods against a potent Australian batting line-up but Raza showed his temperament and made a successful debut, picking up two wickets after giving away just 15 runs in his four overs.
Not surprisingly, Raza was not included in the playing-11 for the group stage of the ICC World T20 2012 at Pallekele, with the Green Shirts looking to rely on their fast bowlers as well. For the Super 8 stage however, the team management
opted to play the young spinner against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757, with the conditions in Colombo more in favour of the slow bowlers.
Mohammad Hafeez showed complete faith on the talented spinner’s abilities, giving him the new ball against a high-quality batting line-up. Raza did not disappoint as he gave away just 12 runs in his three overs and could have picked
up a wicket as well if http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kamran-Akmal-c70122 had not missed a simple stumping.
The left-arm spinner continued to impress in the mega event, doing well against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750, who possess one of the finest batting line-ups of the world. However, the youngster’s best was yet to come as he picked up a Man of the Match award
in the ‘do or die’ encounter against Australia, having grabbed two victims after conceding 14 runs in his four overs, helping the Green Shirts qualify for the semi-finals.
"I'm really happy at the moment as it's my first big tournament. Everybody gives me confidence. We knew we had to try hard," Raza expressed upon receiving the prize.
The Sialkot-born cricketer is lucky to be in the company of a number of world-class spinners like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Abdur-Rehman-c41691. Before making his debut, he revealed while talking to Pakpassion that the
senior spinners have been extremely helpful towards him.
“Saeed Ajmal gives me a lot of confidence. I've met him quite a few times in camps and he has always passed on tips to me, especially on how to bowl to certain batsman,” said the youngster. “He guides me very well and his hope is to
leave a legacy so when he retires there will be one or two spinners to take over from him in the Pakistan side.”
To be continued…
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