Muhammad Hurraira on Shoaib Malik: “My uncle [Shoaib Malik] has been a motivation for me. Seeing him play at the highest level for such a long period gave me that boost that I can also follow his example”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Muhammad Hurraira, the up-and-coming Pakistan opening batsman, has outlined plans to follow in the footsteps of his uncle – veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik.
Malik has had a stellar international career and is regarded as one of the best all-rounders the country has ever produced.
The 41-year-old from Sialkot is still available for selection in T20Is, but has not played for the men in green since November 2021. However, many former and current cricketers feel that he should be in the T20I team right now since he will bring some stability to the middle order.
Having seen his uncle establish such an incredible reputation, Hurraira is determined to do exactly the same and has already been making waves in domestic cricket as he has been a dominant force in the first-class format.
The 21-year-old, who also hails from Sialkot, has amassed 2,312 in 25 matches, which includes eight centuries and eight fifties, at an average of 66.05.
“My uncle [Shoaib Malik] has been a motivation for me. Seeing him play at the highest level for such a long period gave me that boost that I can also follow his example. I have healthy discussions with him about cricket and life in general. He has helped me in my career,” Hurraira, who is currently playing for Faisalabad Region in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
The Pakistan team have been in good form lately as they whitewashed Sri Lanka 2-0 in a Test series before defeating Afghanistan 3-0 in an ODI series.
Recently, they were involved in the Asia Cup, where they defeated Nepal by 238 runs, shared one point apiece with India after their match was rained off, and took down Bangladesh by seven wickets. However, their strong start was derailed in their Super Four clash with India as they lost by 228 runs.
Pakistan had the chance to make it to the Asia Cup final, but failed to get the job done as they lost to Sri Lanka by two wickets via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup:Â Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zaman Khan.
Travelling reserve:Â Tayyab Tahir