Meet the 19-year-old who dismissed AB de Villiers
Find out more about the 19-year-old Karachi Kings left-arm spinner who dismissed AB de Villiers on Sunday
Umer's story is almost tailor-made for the PSL. Born in Rawalpindi he grew up in FATA (Federally-Administered Tribal Areas, on the border with Afghanistan) His father runs a tire puncture repair shop and it was used tires Umer used to bowl against as stumps for hours on end. He was first spotted by PCB coaches in Pepsi Cricket Stars Under-19 programme in 2014 and selected for FATA, though he didn't get a chance to bowl in a two-day drawn match. He later resurfaced on the Under-19 inter-district circuit in 2016 and was elevated to inter-region under-19s and that same year, made it to the Pakistan side for the ACC Under-19s Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.
Umer didn't have a huge number of wickets to show for in age-group cricket but he was spotted Umer hasn't had an impactful youth career so far, in terms of wickets, but some friends of former cricketer and SLA Nadeem Khan (elder brother of Moin) saw Umer playing outside Peshawar cricket stadium. They were impressed by his clean action and Nadeem brought him to UBL (United Bank Limited) where he was head of the side.
Only one game, but what a game. As it happens, it wasn't for UBL, who were one of Pakistan's most successful domestic sides but who shut down their cricket team last season before Umer could get a game. Nadeem recommended him to SSGC (Sui Southern Gas Corporation) and in his first game he did this: 7 for 107, including a six-fer in the second innings to help his side beat Peshawar. He had also played a List A match for UBL, where he conceded 21 runs in 5 overs without a wicket against WAPDA.
Rangana Herath must be his hero? You're not wrong.
Umer wasn't picked among Karachi Kings first 20 players but teams are allowed to pick a 21st player from their own scouting and development programmes. Having tracked Umer's development, Rashid Latif, one of the franchise director who isn't with the team for this season, vouched for him as a potential and deserving player. He's already impressed Karachi Kings coach Mickey Arthur.
Umer wasn't meant to play in the first XI but got his chance because of the fitness concerns surrounding another exciting young spinner Abrar Ahmed, who is Karachi's first-choice emerging spinner. The match against Qalandars was his second of the tournament, and what a way to mark it, getting de Villiers to slog-sweep to deep midwicket where Ravi Bopara was waiting. Those deliveries to de Villiers were well-planned.
Umar Farooq is ESPNcricinfo's Pakistan correspondent