The Multan Sultans batter talks about his preference for batting in the top order, and how, despite a series of injuries, he couldn’t bring himself to give up cricket

Interview by Umar Farooq24-Jun-2021Since the start of 2020, Sohaib Maqsood has the highest T20 strike rate among Pakistan batters and is ninth on the global list (among those with a minimum of 500 runs and 20 innings). It has been a period of transformation for the 34-year-old middle-order batter who was striking at 125.79 previously.Ahead of playing the 2021 PSL final for the Multan Sultans against Peshawar Zalmi, Maqsood, the third-highest run scorer in the tournament, spoke about how he developed his game after his career nearly ended in 2016.Multan Sultans are playing the PSL final for the first time. How has the journey been for everyone in the camp?
The best part about Andy Flower’s coaching style is that he never allows negativity to come close to the team. Otherwise, with the sort of performances we gave in Karachi [losing four out of five games], it would have been very easy for any coach to come and shout [at the players], but he doesn’t work like that.When we came here to Abu Dhabi, 90% of our team thought we are here to play a few games and go back. But credit to him and our skipper [Mohammad Rizwan]. He [Flower] calls us champions even when we lose games. He calls us champions in training sessions, in the dressing room. Sometimes we used to laugh, saying we are more losers than champions, but he had that self-belief.After one victory here, we started to get our belief back and take one game at a time. We never thought we will end up in the top two. Not only did we make it to the qualifier, but it was remarkable how we won it so comfortably.I think in the final, the pressure will be more on Zalmi than us. They are playing their fourth final and they have lost the final twice already. It’s a kind of pressure to not lose a third final in a row.This PSL season, the Multan Sultans went from losing four of their first five games to winning five of their next six to qualify for their first final•Fareed Khan/Associated PressWhat have you done to evolve your white-ball game in the last year?
I have been consistent in domestic cricket for the last two years, but the turnaround came only in the PSL for a reason. I always said that I am a top-order batsman but I never got an opportunity in the PSL to bat higher until this [second] leg in Abu Dhabi. I was playing at Nos. 5 and 6 or sometimes at four. Even in the first leg, in Karachi, I was playing at Nos. 4 or 5, so my performance was irregular.In Abu Dhabi I got to bat at No. 3 and all I did was to bat exactly as I do in domestic cricket. At the same time, form also matters. There is hard work behind [my performances] and it came with my entire focus on white-ball cricket, so it’s paying off well.Who did you have to persuade to make you play at No. 3?
I didn’t convince anyone and I didn’t talk to the captain or management. Shahid [Afridi] ).You have had your fair share of injuries. How are you working to keep yourself fit?
I have suffered nearly every injury other than to my knee. In 2011 I had a ligament rupture in the ankle. I couldn’t play for almost two years. I also had a long history of a back injury. But the worst came when I was at the peak of my career, at the end of 2014, when I picked up a wrist injury that broke the hamate bone in my hand. It was a career-threatening injury. I played the 2015 World Cup with the injury and had surgery after. I feel that injury set my career back the most.How did you bounce back from it?
My family and friends know there was a time when I might have quit cricket. I had other career opportunities as I have a good educational background, but cricket was something I thought I could not live without, so I had to push myself. It was actually not about playing for Pakistan. It was [just] about playing cricket.I know if I am not playing cricket, I might not enjoy anything in life. If I had left cricket because of the injuries and was working in some other profession, I’d still be playing club cricket at least, because it’s my life and I can’t live without it.Did you come close to quitting elite cricket?
I can’t complain about the lack of opportunities in my career, either with the national team or in domestic cricket – I always got a chance. Even in the PSL, despite bad performances, I was still selected for the next edition. Obviously there were a few good performances to back my selection.It was just injuries that made me think of quitting. You can’t do much about injuries, especially when you pick them up when you are doing well. In Under-19, I was a star and then my back injury made me sit out for nearly one and half years. That was frustrating. The injuries were hindering my progress and every step forward I took, I was coming backwards all over again.You know cricketers in Pakistan mostly come from lower-middle-class families. It’s rare that they come from the elite class. So it’s very important for a cricketer to have some [alternative] career when you are 20-22 in case anything goes wrong in your cricketing career. With this mind, I thought I should go to England to study or work.With Mohammad Irfan (left) at the 2015 World Cup. “If I could have taken care of my fitness, my international career would have been a lot better than it is”•Fiona Goodall/AFP/Getty ImagesAt some point, after recovering from my wrist injury, I felt helpless. My game was changed and I wasn’t the player I used to be. No power, no shots, and I felt embarrassed playing cricket because I was not able to do the things I wanted to. Then I thought I should do something else, but there was a voice in my head that I can’t do anything else, so I just had to carry on and keep believing.I learned some hard lessons. In fact, I would like to tell every young player that I wish I can go back and train harder and look after myself better as far as my fitness is concerned. If I could have taken care of my fitness, my international career would have been a lot better than it is.Were you the type of player who relied on natural ability instead of focusing on your fitness?
When I was around 17, I was not a natural athlete. I was a chubby kid and never a quick runner either. Sometimes a player will tell me that when they were 16, they used to fly [around the field], but I can’t say that. When I was 17, I was 110kgs. But when you are over 30, you have to take care of your body. If you can’t train, you can’t play. I still give myself some credit, because with so many career-threatening injuries and surgeries, I still had belief.You are totally right that I used to believe in my natural ability more than hard work. I believed I was naturally blessed, and despite the laziness and avoiding training, I still carried on playing and had a reasonable career.Do you have any ambitions of playing for Pakistan again?
Obviously, if you are playing cricket, your dream is to play for the country. I am 34 now but I still think I can contribute in the T20 format. There are a couple of World Cups coming up in a year and a half. I am in good form and have the belief that if the opportunity comes my way, I will grab it. I know there are a few people who whine about not being selected, but I am not that kind of a guy.I think if people are doing well in the national team, that also needs to be considered. I know whenever I score runs, people start talking about putting me in the team to fill in the No. 5 or 6 spots, but I am afraid if I play [in those positions], I won’t be able to deliver much. I know you have to bat for your country wherever you are asked to, but I believe if I bat in the top order, that’s where I can do better for the country.

A look back at the day-night matches at the ground, which has hosted the most number of such fixtures

Andrew McGlashan13-Dec-2021Australia vs New Zealand, 3rd Test, 2015
A new era dawned (or was lit up) with an intriguing Test full of unknowns that produced a tight, bowler-dominated contest, although Australia’s chase was perhaps a little more comfortable than the final margin suggested. But it could have been very different for New Zealand if Nathan Lyon had been given out caught at slip via a sweep onto his arm, on 0, when Australia were still 84 behind – the third umpire deemed Hot Spot inconclusive and there was no mark on Snicko. A combination of seam and spin had brought New Zealand back into the game after Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood had shared six first-innings wickets. However, after Lyon’s reprieve, him and Starc, who was injured and did not bowl in the second innings, helped Peter Nevill add 108 runs for the last two wickets. In the absence of Starc, Hazlewood shouldered the burden and claimed six wickets while Mitchell Marsh nipped out three to set up the chase. When Steven Smith was lbw to Trent Boult, Australia were wobbling on 66 for 3, but Shaun Marsh made a superb 49 while there were vital hands from Adam Voges and Mitchell Marsh to bring the target in sight.Related

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Australia vs South Africa, 3rd Test, 2016Usman Khawaja’s magnificent 145 put Australia on course for victory – after the team had undergone a clear out following a series-deciding thrashing in Hobart – and cancelled out equally fine centuries from Faf du Plessis and Stephen Cook. Hazlewood continued to show his craft with the pink ball as his four wickets reduced South Africa to 161 for 7 on the opening day before du Plessis turned the innings around with the lower order for company. Then, having noticed David Warner was off the field and would be unable to open, he declared late on the first day to try and catch out Australia’s top order. It didn’t work, and the promoted Khawaja played one of his finest innings, while half-centuries for Smith, debutant Peter Handscomb and Starc secured a strong lead. South Africa could never quite form the substantial partnerships needed second time around with Cook the last man out to give Starc his fourth wicket. Warner, Smith and the obdurate Matt Renshaw ensured the chase was always in hand.Jonny Bairstow was bowled to confirm Australia’s victory by 120 runs in the second Test in 2017•Getty ImagesAustralia vs England, 2nd Test, 2017Australia took hold of this match with a hefty first innings, having been put into bat by Joe Root, but England hauled themselves back into the contest as James Anderson showed his mastery under lights before the batting failed again. Shaun Marsh’s century was the cornerstone after the early hard work of Warner, Khawaja and Smith on a stop-start opening day. England were then largely dismantled in daytime conditions with Lyon backing up the work of the three quicks, but Smith decided against the follow-on even though the night session loomed. That gave England a glimmer with Anderson and Chris Woakes often unplayable as Australia slipped to 50 for 4. The pair ended up sharing nine wickets with only Khawaja and Starc making it to 20. Still, 354 was a huge chase. When Root and Dawid Malan were adding 78 for the fourth wicket, taking the runs required below 200, there were thoughts of a grandstand finish; but Cummins struck late on the fourth night and the final morning was a procession.Australia vs Pakistan, 2nd Test, 2019Tough for batters against the pink ball? Warner make a mockery of that with the second-highest individual score for Australia in Test cricket (behind Matthew Hayden’s 380) as Pakistan were overwhelmed despite finding an unlikely century-maker. Warner, who was caught off a no-ball on 226, and Marnus Labuschagne, feasted on some awful bowling to add 361 in 80 overs for the second wicket with Tim Paine declaring when Warner passed Mark Taylor’s mark and as the lights took hold. Pakistan’s top order was blown away by Starc, but on the third day, Australia’s fielding went to pieces while Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan counterattacked in a 105-run stand. Babar fell short of an elegant hundred, but Yasir brought up an unexpected milestone. Still, Paine was able to enforce the follow-on just as another night-time session took hold amid stoppages for rain, and the quicks again made inroads. In daytime on the fourth day, Lyon mopped up the rest.India bat in the dying moments of their horror innings against Australia in Adelaide in 2020•AFP/Getty ImagesAustralia vs India, 1st Test, 2020The match hurtled to a conclusion on an extraordinary third morning when India were bowled out in 21.2 overs with none of their batters making double figures. It turned what had been a nip-and-tuck contest – with India in front after two days – into an Australian cakewalk done by mid-afternoon. There had been a dramatic start with Starc striking with the second ball of the Test, but Virat Kohli was masterful to lead India to the relative strength of 188 for 3 when the innings turned on a run-out created by Hazlewood’s athleticism and an awful mix-up with Ajinkya Rahane which exposed the middle order under lights. However, India’s 244 was enough for a handy lead, with R Ashwin taking out the middle order, and it would have been more without one of the best innings of Paine’s Test career. Though Prithvi Shaw again fell early, the talk was of India building a lead of somewhere around 250. Those ideas disappeared amid a flurry of edges against Hazlewood and Cummins in a scarcely believable 15 overs on the third day. It did not, however, define the series.

The home bowlers work hard to get the better of a slow pitch and a resolute opposition

Sidharth Monga27-Nov-20212:00

Vettori: Axar’s pace, consistency and accuracy were brilliant

Far too often, India win far too easily at home these days. Since the last time they lost a series at home, India have lost two of 38 Tests, and drawn five (three of them weather-affected). Of the 31 wins, only one has been by a margin of under 100 runs or six wickets. The two losses have been when they have lost a crucial toss.However, once in a while, along comes a pitch so slow and low, and along comes a No. 1 team in the world who doesn’t make unforced errors. Edges keep falling short, ones that beat them keep missing the stumps, turn keeps getting slower and slower, and we have a proper challenge.Watch live cricket on ESPN+ in the US

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When the third day started, India knew they were in for a hard day’s work. They had bowled 57 overs on this pitch for no wicket even though they had produced 56 false responses from the batters. As a comparison, India were bowled out in 96 mistakes. It points to some good fortune for the New Zealand openers, but also to how slow and low the pitch had become. You could beat them with sideways turn, which kept increasing, but taking wickets was going to be hard work.In other words, this was not a pitch or an opposition that you could run through with two good bowlers. In three days, there has hardly been a single opportunity at bat-pad. Gully has been kneeling on the floor. Each of the bowlers had to do a job here, and they did.He might have got just three wickets, but R Ashwin was masterful in his 11-over spell in the morning. Axar Patel, who ran away with a five-for, his fifth in just four Tests, was asked what advice he would give his batters on day four given the conditions. He said there wasn’t much to worry with the pitch; only if the spinners are patient can they trouble batters.Ashwin hates the word patience. At least in the traditional parlance, which is to say keep trying your stock ball, experiment less, and the results will come. He was anything but patient. He poured out a career worth of tricks in a spell. He changed the angles of the seam, he changed the angles on the crease, he changed the points of release, he changed the pace. He bowled the carrom ball, he bowled the arm ball, he bowled a legspinner’s topspinner, and he bowled a lot of offbreaks.Related

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At one point, Ashwin caused a pause in play because the umpire was so flummoxed by the angle of his run-up, which was perfectly legal but is so rarely used it is hard to remember anyone doing it. He ran in from the umpire’s right, got extremely close to him, the closest you can without whacking him, released the ball from practically in front of the umpire, and kept running along the diagonal. While doing this, he made sure he was not close to the danger area.Even while he did all this, Ashwin had the ball on a string. It dipped and drifted beautifully, giving the batters hardly any easy boundary, if at all. On a pitch that other bowlers have drawn a false shot once every seven balls, Ashwin did so once every five balls. This was one of the great spells of spin bowling just for the sheer number of times he beat batters in the air on a pitch that had not yet begun to help the spinners.Tom Latham is an expert batter, tight in defence but severe on anything loose. He batted close to seven hours for just 95 runs not because he was overly defensive, but because he was not given anything to score off. Batting often gets easier the more time you spend on the wicket, but it kept getting difficult the more Latham faced Ashwin.Despite a determined show from New Zealand, India’s bowlers kept creating mistake after mistake, bowling good ball after good ball.•BCCIAnd it wasn’t just Ashwin. It can’t be on such pitches. Ishant Sharma put in a spell of 6-2-20-0 in the morning before other spinners took over. Umesh Yadav then produced his usual brute out of nowhere to take out another big batter Kane Williamson.When so much pressure has been built, it is imperative the change-up bowlers don’t release it. Forget releasing the pressure, India’s change-up bowlers on this day are experts of exploiting it. The harder newer ball drew quicker response from the pitch, and Axar and Ravindra Jadeja started targeting the stumps.Axar had the better day of the two. Interestingly, he said the wider he went on the crease and the lower he went on the release, the more assistance he got from the pitch. So he just kept mixing up high-release straighter deliveries with roundarm turning ones. The accuracy was unerring. He was lethal once it started misbehaving.The endeavour of Test batting, especially away from home, is to see off the main threats and then cash in on either tired or lesser bowlers. There was no lesser bowler. In the pleasant temperatures of Kanpur, which ironically means the cracks didn’t quite open up sooner, there was no question these bowlers were tiring.It took India 67 mistakes to get their first wicket, the most it has taken for an opening wicket to fall in India since ESPNcricinfo started keeping control stats. It took India 133 mistakes in all to bowl New Zealand out. But they kept at it, creating mistake after mistake, bowling good ball after good ball.It will take more of the same in the second innings – although it is getting progressively difficult to bat on – but if India can manage to pull off a win here, New Zealand’s innings of 142.5 overs will be the fifth-longest first innings by a visiting team in a lost Test in India. This win will not have come easy.

“If Mehidy Hasan gets better with the bat, him and Shakib Al Hasan can give a huge boost to the ODI side”

Mohammad Isam26-Apr-2022Some way through our conversation, Tamim Iqbal says something he seems he has been trying to find a way to say for a while: that he feels bad that Bangladesh’s ODI series win in South Africa was largely unacknowledged in their country. No need for a ticker-tape parade in Dhaka, but a bit more attention for the new match-winners who contributed to the first series win in a country where they hadn’t won anything bar a game against West Indies in the 2007 T20 World Cup.The condensed nature of cricket tours these days meant that the Tests came soon after the ODIs, and Bangladesh lost both of them, competing hard for long periods but then being bowled out for 53 in Durban and 80 in Gqeberha in the last innings in the two Tests, respectively. The landmark wins from the previous two weeks were lost in the rubble somewhere.”I think winning an ODI series in South Africa’s backyard was big for us. It is one of our best achievements till now, but in my heart, I also feel sad,” Tamim told ESPNcricinfo. “We, as a nation, celebrate small things. Because of how the Test series went, this ODI series achievement faded away.Related

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“I don’t feel bad for myself, Shakib [Al Hasan] or Mushfiq [Mushfiqur Rahim]. I feel bad for the likes of [Mehidy Hasan] Miraz, Yasir [Ali], Taskin [Ahmed] and Shoriful [Islam]. They made huge contributions in the ODI series. It should have been celebrated a lot more.”We have known all through that they have huge potential, so if they improve upon what they have started to do now, there’ll be nothing like it. Taskin, Shoriful and Litton [Das] are contributing regularly. Yasir is very new, but he played a fantastic knock in the first ODI. If they keep doing it, we will become a very, very good ODI team.”But the conversation in Bangladesh turned quickly to how the Test batters had no answers to Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer, South Africa’s spinners who did the most damage in the Tests. But a cricket team is only as good as what it achieves.”If you consider our history in South Africa before this tour, we used to get hammered in all formats in that country,” Tamim said. “This time, we won the ODI series, we competed in the first Test, but we were not up to the mark in the second. We could have played much better.”I didn’t play the first Test but when I was watching from the dressing room, I couldn’t say who would win the Test in the first four days. Both the teams competed hard. We had a really bad last day, which handed the result to South Africa.”

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Bangladesh were bowled out for 53 and 80 in the Tests in South Africa•AFP/Getty ImagesAll said, Bangladesh’s twin fourth-innings collapses is a cause for worry.”I am someone who doesn’t give excuses. If it was my fault, I will readily admit that it was my fault,” Tamim said.”Saying that, you have to understand that Bangladesh batted in the most difficult times in both Tests in South Africa. We were basically playing a day-night Test in the second innings of both games. We had to survive for 25-30 overs. We couldn’t score runs. The wicket was also difficult.”Still, we couldn’t find other ways to score runs or survive. I am sure in the coming days, we will have this kind of situation again. We have to react better as a team. We have to play better in this situation, find out ways to score runs or survive.”However, the picture is rosier in the ODI side. Tamim leads a tight unit that has arrived at a good balance between batters, bowlers and allrounders. It has taken time, but the evolution has happened, Tamim said, adding that ODI-like success is needed in Tests – like the win against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui.”Not just at the international level, our most competitive domestic competition is the Dhaka Premier League. It is a one-day tournament,” Tamim explained. “It has been taking place for not just 10-15 years, but 35 years, or even more. We were raised in this competitive one-day environment.”Secondly, we have tasted a lot of success in ODIs. It is helping improve the team. There’s a lot of competition for places. We don’t have similar kind of success in Tests or T20Is. What happened in Mount Maunganui, if this thing starts to repeat, then players will understand that we have to get better in Tests. I think we have to take a bigger step in Tests than in the other formats.”

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Tamim on offspinner Mehidy: “I think he is one of our best ODI players. He is very under-rated as a cricketer”•AFP/Getty ImagesBangladesh used their usual ODI blueprint to find success in the first and third ODIs in South Africa. They made two big starts when Tamim and Litton added 95 and 127 respectively. These were Bangladesh’s highest opening stands in South Africa in all formats.”If we start a series well, whether batting or bowling, it automatically sets the tone for us,” Tamim said. “This has always been the case with Bangladesh. The 95-run stand gave us a lot of confidence. Before going to Centurion and Johannesburg, you hear things about the bounce. The pitch does this, the pitch does that. When you apply yourself and put the team in a decent position, the dressing room starts to believe that if these two are doing it, so can we.”But he admitted that it was the bowlers who won Bangladesh both matches, while the improved fielding during the ODI series helped the cause.”I thought our bowlers won us the ODI series,” Tamim said. “We put up a good score in the first game. Shakib played a very good innings. Yasir played well. Litton and I did something. But our bowling was the main game-changer. In the third game, it was again the bowlers who kept them tied up at 150-odd [154].”I have always said that our fielding needs a lot of improvement. We may have dropped one or two catches, but I thought we actually fielded really well in South Africa. Good fielding lifts everyone.”

“It takes a very big heart to do what Shakib did. I thanked him after the game.”Tamim acknowledges Shakib Al Hasan playing the third ODI in South Africa despite a family crisis back home

What also lifted the team and the captain was the way Mehidy responded to critical situations. When he was smacked around in the first ODI, he came back with a four-wicket haul that won Bangladesh the match. His improved batting and fielding have also been noticeable.”I think Miraz is one of our best ODI players. He is very under-rated as a cricketer,” Tamim said. “I think he is the third- or fourth-ranked [eighth] bowler in the world. Nobody speaks about it. Not only his performance, but [also] the energy he brings to the field [with] the never-say-die attitude that he has.”He is a different character. He will say things that people won’t necessarily take seriously, but that’s the kind of character you want in the team. He has improved as a batter, but if he gets better, him and Shakib give a huge boost to the team.”Needless to say, Shakib’s presence, and his performances, helped. He took down the South African attack in the first ODI, and just the fact that he was around for the third ODI, despite a crisis in his family back home, was a big inspiration to the team.”The way Shakib batted [in the first ODI] gave positive vibes,” Tamim said. “He took on the South African bowlers seven overs earlier than anyone imagined. I said at the time that it takes a very big heart to do what he did [by playing the third ODI]. I thanked him after the game. But just because he has done it, not everyone has to do it. If someone’s loved ones are sick, it is absolutely fine for him to go take care of them. I will support them fully.”There was a poignant moment at the end of the third ODI. Shakib and Tamim were at the crease to finish the job. They had utterly dominated South Africa, who have for two decades annihilated them at home. But, now, Bangladesh were about to win the ODI series. When the moment arrived, Shakib scored the winning runs, with Tamim having played a captain’s knock at the other end.”As we were winding down, we were talking about what needed to be done,” Tamim recalled. “I remember what I told him when the winning runs were hit. I told that this is one of our biggest achievements as a team. I said that and I hugged him.”

The allrounder has made people in various leagues sit up and take notice and now he’s done that at the IPL too

Deivarayan Muthu27-Mar-2022On the opening night of IPL 2022, 38-year-old Dwayne Bravo showed that he still has it, equalling Lasith Malinga for the most wickets in the history of the league. The second night marked the emergence of 25-year-old Odean Smith, who has all the traits to become a T20 superstar just like his West Indies compatriots.Mohammad Siraj had taken out Bhanuka Rajapaksa (43) and Raj Bawa (0) off successive balls in the 14th over to reduce Punjab Kings to 139 for 4 in a steep chase of 206 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. An over later, Liam Livingstone holed out to Anuj Rawat at sweeper cover off Akash Deep to leave Kings needing 50 off 31 balls, with five wickets in hand.Kings of old might have cracked under pressure. However, a new-look side, powered by Smith, mowed down the target with an entire over to spare. When he had arrived at No. 7, M Shahrukh Khan, the other finisher, was struggling to time the ball. So, the onus was on Smith to tee off immediately.

Don’t park your car too close when a West Indian is batting pic.twitter.com/Qpd2WEs5ah

— Sheldon Cotterell (@SaluteCotterell) January 8, 2022