M Shoaib Ahmed: Saqlain - an outstanding off-spinner (17 Aug 1998)

17 August 1998

Saqlain Mushtaq - an outstanding off-spinner

By M Shoaib Ahmed

In the ongoing English season Pakistan's Saqlain Mushtaq, who plays for Surrey, became the third bowler in the 1998 season to capture 50 or more wickets. His bowling is the major factor enabling Surrey to reach the top slot in the English county Championship. His captain Adam Hollioake has been all praise for his bowling.

With so much attention being centered on the leagues these days, it is good to see the off-spinners doing their bit in the international arena - men like Saqlain Mushtaq, Pat Symcox and Muttiah Muralitharan - Pakistan's Saqlain is the youngest of the lot. But he has an old head on young shoulders. He already has against his name, a hat trick in one-day Internationals, against the Zimbabweans at home in October 1996. He has that flight and that loop, so vital for the off-spinners. His line is just right, on or around off-stump, and there are times when he gets the ball to turn a long way. Added to this, he also has the delivery most off-spinners strive for, the one that drifts away from the right-hander.

It was against Sri Lanka at home in the '95 series that Saqlain made his entry into Test cricket, at Peshawar. Sri Lanka scored a remarkable series victory, but with nine wickets in his first two matches, Saqlain had arrived in the big league.

Then, on the tour of Australia in 1995-96, his bowling was impressive. The former Australian off-spinner Bruce Yardley, immediately took a liking for Saqlain and spoke in glorious terms about the Pakistani.

Saqlain now has emerged as one of world's leading off-spinners. He has some mystery balls, which turn the other way, to puzzle the batsmen completely. He has not only emerged as the world's best off-spinner but he comes through as someone who really cares about the team and is visibly hurt when others are not putting their weight. Geoff Boycott among others as a great fan of Saqlain Mushtaq and foresees a bright future for him.

Quite often Saqlain has come up with what is required by his captain. The ease with which he gets wickets in one-dayers is amazing. But contrary to what his record suggests, Saqlain does not think a batsmen out. He insists he just bowls a good line length, and waits for the batsman to make the mistakes. He is not one who will talk at great length about flight variation or turn. He is not the one to give a thought to the stature of the batsman, either. For his outstanding show over the last two years, Saqlain feels that his seniors have made a major contribution in helping him develop to as a bowler of class at international level.

A player with the ability to maker runs, Saqlain along with his captain Wasim Akram shared a world record 8th wicket stand in a Test against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura when he added 313 runs. Saqlain's share being 79. A good fielder, Saqlain can bowl long spells as he showed in a Test in Sri Lanka when he bowled 107 overs in the drawn Test.

Source:: Dawn (https://dawn.com/)