Atiq-uz-Zaman: “He was like right-handed Salman Butt. In terms of [wisdom] and in terms of the leadership skills, when he speaks, he talks like a leader, so I think he’s got a great future”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan cricketer Atiq-uz-Zaman has described rising star Muhammad Hurraira as a “right-handed Salman Butt”.
Hurraira is one of the brightest prospects in the country and is likely to make his international debut in the near future, especially since he has been a force to be reckoned with in domestic cricket.
The 22-year-old averages 53.31 in first-class cricket, 28.72 in List A cricket and 30.23 in T20s.
Hurraira was selected for Pakistan’s recent two-Test series against Bangladesh, but wasn’t included in the playing XI for both matches.
In addition to being an outstanding batsman, Atiq believes Hurraira has also displayed strong leadership skills as he leads by example and “talks like a leader”.
Considering how young the Sialkot native is, Atiq has no doubt that “he’s got a great future” ahead of him.
“I wish Hurraira all the best, I hope he plays the Test match because I remember that when I was at [the] PCB, when I took the role at [the] PCB, they made me a selector for Under-19 for Punjab region and I [had] done an open trial and Hurraira came on those trials as well and he got selected and he [became] a captain of that team as well,” he told PakPassion.
“I liked him since then and I always knew that he [has] got leadership skills. He was like right-handed Salman Butt. In terms of [wisdom] and in terms of the leadership skills, when he speaks, he talks like a leader, so I think he’s got a great future in Pakistan and you have seen that in domestic cricket he has scored a couple of double hundreds [and] one triple hundred, so all big hundreds. I wish him all the best.”
Hurraira is now involved in the Champions One-Day Cup, which is a domestic 50-over competition being played in Faisalabad, and has scored 86 runs in four matches for the Dolphins at an average of 21.50.
The Pakistan team’s next assignment will be a three-match Test series against England, which is scheduled to take place from October 7 to 28.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Shaheen Shah Afridi