Sami Aslam: Sami is an attacking left handed batsman who likes to get after the bowling. He was the leading run scorer in the national one day U19 competition where NBP were finalists at the back end of last year.Sami idolises India’s Suresh Raina and likes to pull and drive and generally favours the mid wicket region as his front line scoring option. Although he’s performed well at the youth level, Sami does not have any domestic experience as of yet. Sami was also selected and part of the U19 academy colts team in 2009 which was a team consisting of some of the finest youngsters across the country. Sami has been one of the stand out performers in the youth circuit in recent years. Sami scored a match winning century in his 2nd youth ODI in alien conditions to him which is a reflection of the damage he can do. Age:16.
Fawad Khan: A promising left arm spinner from Karachi who was the leading wicket taker in both the shorter and longer formats of the game in the U19 departmental season. Potentially, another Raza Hasan in the making? His figures make impressive reading.
Zia ul Haq: Played a few FC encounters for PIA who won the 2011/12 Quaid E Azam Trophy Division 1 after beating ZTBL under lights at the NSK in the televised final with the pink ball. A promising left arm fast bowler who takes the new ball and tries to get the early breakthroughs. Zia is a strike bowler for Babar Azam. Age: 18.
Umer Waheed: The vice captain of the side that was part of the Rawalpindi team who won the U19 title in 2011 during the regional one day competition. A talented batsmen and vice captain who is rated in a fairly high regard. He bats in the middle order and made a noteworthy unbeaten half century on his youth ODI debut recently against Zimbabwe.
Usman Qadir: The exciting and experienced member of the squad, son of Abdul Qadir whose surname is enough to frighten many batsmen out there. Usman is following the family traditions as his elder brother; Imran Qadir has represented Pakistan U15 in youth world cups as has Salman Qadir at U19 level who was a member of the WC winning side in Bangladesh in 2004, also one of his elder brothers. The Family tradition runs in the blood. Usman was part of the Pakistan side that were runners up in the U15 World Cup in the West Indies in 2008 and they also won the knock out tournament prior to the World Cup in the West Indies. He was extremely impressive at the youth levels that they wanted to include him for the academy and “A” side when he was just 16 believe it or not, however his father recommended it would be best for him to concentrate on the youth levels competing against people his own age at the time.
Also, Usman is a member of the Asian Games Squad which toured China in 2010 to claim the bronze medal and a member of the under 25 victorious SAARC team 2011 who claimed the title in the Maldives. Yet to make a first class debut, but has played 3 List A fixtures for ZTBL in 2010. Usman’s best performance up till now will be the 7 wickets he claimed aged 15 in 2009 in an under 16 regional final held in Lahore including a hat trick as his mixture of leg breaks, googlies and flippers bamboozled the opposition. Usman was Pakistan’s joint leading wicket taker at the 2010 Under 19 World Cup in New Zealand alongside his fellow spin partner, Raza Hasan. The Pakistan side were runners up so he is a member of the squad who has been to a global World Cup before and will be looking to go one better later this year in Queensland when it happens all again.
A bowling action not to dissimilar to his father with the juggling of balls from hands giving the batsmen the stare before he starts his run, the bouncy action of arms and legs angling in to the stumps from a wide on angle and high arm release to conclude although from my observations his bowling action is even more reminiscent to Mushtaq Ahmed with the jump and high arm release with both hands high up in the air like a windmill. Usman is also a handy left handed batsman which was evident in a 40 he made in one of his first List A innings in 2010. Junior Qadir enjoys those cover drives and likes watching Gilly, the famous Australian batsmen wicket keeper as one of his favourite players, although primarily he is in the team for his leg spin bowling. Recently, he skippered NBP U19 to the departmental one day final and was also part of the NBP squad which won the Ramadan tournament in Karachi organised by Moin Khan. In closing, one of the bigger recognised names in the squad who will have an enormous part to play in 2012. Age: 18.
Babar Azam: Captain and star player. Has played FC level for ZTBL and done impressively. The captain has captained the nation at U15 level in the past and now 4 years later is taking it to the next level. Babar is a technically well equipped opening batsmen, athletic fielder and occasional off spinner. He is a cousin of Umar Akmal, Adnan Akmal and Kamran Akmal. He was even selected for Pakistan “A” when Afghanistan toured for 3 50 over matches in the latter half of May in 2011 and impressed scoring a half century in one of the televised matches. Babar was Pakistan’s leading run scorer in the 2010 Under 19 World Cup at the age of just 15 including scoring a century in his first youth world cup match against the potent bowling attack of the West Indies who went on to reach the final 4 during the competition. Babar models AB, the South African Limited Overs captain with his splendid commitment as a fielder and enterprising stroke play with the bat.
