Getting younger

Change is the only constant thing in life. And Rana Naved Ul Hasan knows it the best. From his U/14 playing days to his international career, he has now played for more than 11 teams. But his most creditable performances have come while playing for Lahore Badshahs in ICL 20s championships, that too as a genuine all-rounder.

With 17 wickets, Naved tops the wicket takers column of this edition. However, that’s not his only contribution. He has also scored 171 runs, with two match-winning fifties. “Looks like I have come off better with age,” jokes Naved. The 30-year-old has won two man-of-the-match awards and is now one of the most crucial and permanent elements of the team.

However, it has not been that simple a run for this man who gave up his first love, hockey, for cricket. To find a place in the Pakistan team he was competing with the likes of Azhar Mahmood, Shoaib Malik and Abdul Razzaq. Luck was never by his side because despite impressive performances in the initial part of his career he never was considered as a first choice player.

For someone who has three centuries and over 550 wickets in first class cricket to his credit, there hardly could be any doubt about the talent this man possessed. “I was always considered to be a replacement in case some bowler got injured, therefore my primary job was that of a bowler and not anything more than that,” confesses Rana.
His ability to let his willow do the talking always remained in a closet until he came to ICL. “Our middle order was a weak link and Azhar (Mahmood) bhai who had seen me batting in county, recommended my elevation in the batting order,” says Naved. He seems to have finally found a role perfectly fitting his liking.

With the arrival of Mohammed Yousuf, Lahore Badshahs middle-order has become one of the strongest in the tournament. With just couple of wins away from the title, Naved feels that with Yousuf in the team, he can now freely wield his willow. He says, “Yousuf’s mere presence in the team makes a lot of difference, it gives a lot of stability.”