Bahawalpur rise to the occasion on debut

New inductee makes its presence felt in domestic cricket.

KARACHI:

Bahawalpur’s return to Pakistan’s domestic cricket turned out to be a fairytale start as they shocked Rawalpindi Rams, reigning Super-Eight T20 winners - in their first match after regaining their status as a region.

Bahawalpur were not eligible for regional events because of their status as a division and their players were forced to turn out for Multan, Faisalabad, Lahore and Sialkot. Only recently did they get the status of a region and now have the chance to prove their mettle on the bigger stage. Stags’ player Usman Tariq, who was once in the running for national selection, said that the change in status will give Bahawalpur players confidence that they could play top quality cricket too.

“Players from Bahawalpur, Sheikhupura or Gunjrawala have to struggle a lot to get into teams of other regions,” Tariq told The Express Tribune. “When players know that they have their own region, it gives them self-belief that if they worked hard, they could go onto play first-class or domestic T20 cricket.”

Tariq complained that despite Bahawalpur always producing great talent and playing impressive cricket, they were not recognised as a region. He thanked PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf for giving Bahawalpur an identity they needed badly.

“Ashraf has done a great service for the players of Bahawalpur and Fata by making them a region. This has given the youngsters motivation as they have once again turned to grounds. I’ve settled in England but when I went back to my hometown few days back, there was excitement all over with people praying for us to do well in the T20 event.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2012.