DUBAI // Twenty years after officially becoming Test cricket’s youngest ever player, Hasan Raza has started out on his second life in the international game, having made his first appearance for the UAE.
The veracity of his claim to being 14 when he debuted for Pakistan against Zimbabwe in 1996 has been contested, but he is still regarded as the youngest to have played the format.
Now 34, he is just over six months away from qualifying for the UAE under the ICC’s four-year residency criteria, as he now lives in Sharjah.
Even while still involved in the Pakistan first-class game, Raza regularly played domestic A division cricket in the UAE as a guest player. He is playing for the national team in a two-day practice match against West Indies.
"I want to play as soon as possible for the UAE team," Raza, a middle-order batsman who played sevens Tests for Pakistan, said.
"I played Tests for the last time in 2005, against England in Lahore and Multan. They didn’t want to select me to come back for the Pakistan team, and I was disappointed in that.
"UAE have a lot of cricket, good grounds, good conditions and I want to play. I have kept in touch with the management, and I am eligible from next year."
Raza’s arrival in the UAE set up means the national team could soon field two former Pakistani Test players in their line-up.
Riaz Afridi, who played one Test as a bowler in 2004, is months away from being eligible, too, and is thought to be part of the selectors’ plans for the future.
Raza’s first day playing for his adopted side, at the start of a two-day preparatory match to give the West Indies players practice before the Test series against Pakistan, could not have gone much worse.
The two sides had agreed to bat no more than 70 overs each on first innings. The national team managed just two wickets in that time as West Indies racked up 249.
In reply, the UAE’s batting was blown away by the Caribbean side’s new-ball attack of Miguel Cummins and Jonathan Carter, as they collapsed to 20 for seven. Raza was out for a second-ball duck.
"It was a tough day," Raza said. "They are a professional team, their preparation is very good, and it showed how much hard work we need to do as batsmen to improve."
The batting horror show provided a tough end to an exacting first day in charge for the UAE’s interim coach, Owais Shah.
"The skill level [of the UAE players] is high, but it is a matter of doing the basics right," said Shah, the former England batsman who is in charge of the national team for the next 15 days.
