Shahnawaz Dahani is a young Pakistani cricketer, born near a village in Larkana. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has shared his story of becoming a cricketer through a video ahead of the seventh edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL).
In the video, the journey of Dahani from playing in his village to the PSL is shown where it can be seen that he was opposed by his late father when he wanted to play cricket.
The story of Shahnawaz Dahani is a story of resilience, confidence and faith in a dream.
Aur jab qismat badlay to tayyari poori honi chahiye na?
Lack of proper facilities might have stopped the young Shahnawaz to get opportunities at a young age, just like many other boys from the city. But Shahnawaz seems to be making up for lost time. His story is one for the ages as someone who found it difficult to buy shoes to play cricket and is now one of the most celebrated young players.
Ahead of the sixth edition of the PSL 2021, he was picked up as an emerging player by the Multan Sultans and the decision proved to be worth it. He ended up becoming the first emerging player to become the highest wicket-taker in the tournament’s history.
He was a key member in the Sultans’ impressive turnaround and helped them clinch their maiden title. Now, Dahani is one of the most celebrated young cricketers. Yet, just a few years back, he was like any other young Pakistani boy, living in a small village near Larkana, dreaming to play cricket for Pakistan.
Pakistan’s young pacer Shahnawaz Dahani, who recently made a debut against Bangladesh in the third match of the three-match T20I series, is happy to be back home with his family and “naughty nephew”.
“Back to home, Larkana. Happy to be with my naughty nephew,” Dahani tweeted, alongside an image of a cheerful boy whom he was holding up.
Dahani took his maiden international wicket during the series, in the third fixture.
He clean bowled Bangladesh’s Najmul Hossain Shanto on the third ball of his first over, hitting the base of the batter’s middle stump to knock the bails off.
He went on to bowl three overs in the match, giving away 24 runs.
Prior to the match, Dahani expressed his joy on his debut in a tweet, saying: “Alhamdulillah,I am going to represent my country today. I am extremely happy and excited to play in green. All this happened due to prayers of my mother. Thank you everyone for loving me and supporting me, and Pray that I make my country proud.”
Alhamdulillah,I am going to represent my country today. I am extremely happy and excited to play in green. All this happened due to prayers of my mother. Thank you everyone for loving me and supporting me, and Pray that I make my country proud.❤️ . pic.twitter.com/S6DkgDZpoX
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) shared a video of the pacer in which he can be seen talking to his mother about his debut match in his native language.
Pakistan is set to play the last T20I of the three-match series against Bangladesh today, November 22. Pakistan is leading the series with 2-0, and today the Men In Green will be opting for a white-wash.
The national Test side will play the Test matches in Chittagong on Tuesday for the first of the two Tests. Pakistan and Bangladesh will play two World Test Championship matches.
The Chittagong Test will commence from November 26 and the second Test will be played in Dhaka from December 4-8.
A video shared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on its official Twitter account shows cricketer Shahnawaz Dahani and Pakistan captain Babar Azam playing cricket with a few kids in a hotel’s narrow corridor during their quarantine.
“Quarantine = Cricket time!! Pakistan @T20WorldCup squad spending their isolation time while playing cricket with kids,” said the PCB in its post.
Babar Azam can be seen sitting on the floor of the corridor, bowling to a kid.
While fast bowler Shahnawaz Dahani can be seen acting as an umpire as one kid throws a ball to another.
Pakistani cricket players are in quarantine in order to fly for the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to start from October 17 in Oman, United Arab Emirates. (UAE)
Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Chief Selector Mohammad Wasim on Friday announced the Pakistan squad for the upcoming tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe in a press conference at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Pakistan is scheduled to play three one-day internationals and four Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against South Africa from April 2 till April 16. After the South Africa tour, the team will depart for Zimbabwe, where they will play two Tests and three T20Is against the Chevrons.
In the T20I squad, Mohammad Hafeez and Shadab Khan have returned to the team after being dropped for the matches against South Africa in Pakistan.
Opener Sharjeel Khan has also returned to the squad, while emerging players Mohamamad Wasim Jr and Arshad Iqbal have been called up following their strong performance in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Interestingly, Mohamamad Wasim Jr has also been named in the ODI squad.
On the other hand, Pakistan’s star leg spinner Yasir Shah has been excluded from the Test squad due to an injury.
Multan Sultans bowler Shahnawaz Dahani, who picked up quite a lot of accolades during PSL 6, has been given his maiden Test call.
Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Haider Ali, Danish Aziz, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Mohamamad Wasim Jr, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali, Arshad Iqbal, Usman Qadir.
ODI squad
Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Haider, Danish Aziz, Saud Shakil, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shadab Khan, Mohammad, Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali, Usman Qadir.
Test squad
Babar Azam, Imran Butt, Abid Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Tabish Khan, Hasan Ali, Shahnawaz Dahani, Nauman Ali, Zahid Mehmood, Sajid Khan.
The Pakistan Super League (PSL) has become a platform for many aspiring and young cricketers to fast track their cricket journey. Shadab Khan, Hassan Ali and Haris Rauf are just some players who have become superstars and made it to the national team after performing in PSL.
This year, the player who caught everyone’s attention is 22-year old fast bowler Shahnawaz Dahani – a young man from Larkana who has impressed everyone with his bowling skills and celebration style. Dahani was picked by Multan Sultans as an emerging player in the PSL6 draft and made his debut for Sultans during a game against Peshawar Zalmi. Since then, he has played three games and has taken two wickets in each of them.
In an interview with Geo Super, the young cricketer opened up on his struggle, journey and future targets.
Dahani is from a small village named Khuhawar Khan Dahani. Growing up, he used to play tape-ball cricket, barefooted, on an open and uneven field in his village.
“I was passionate about bowling fast and was known in my village for my fast bowling, that’s why many there had named me 3G bowler – to relate the speed with the speed of the internet,” shared Dahani, adding that he knew nothing about professional cricket back then.
Dahani said that he was invited to the U19 trials after some guests in his village witnessed him bowling with a tape ball.
Recalling the moment, Dahani said when he was invited for the trials, he didn’t have any proper gear or shoes so he borrowed them from a friend and showed up to the trials. There he got selected to play inter-district U19 matches.
Dahani, who has a B.Com Degree, said that his father wanted him to concentrate on his studies but his passion for the game pushed him to pursue it.
“He [my father] is no more with us, but I am sure he would’ve been very proud today seeing me become the face of my village and bringing laurels” said Dahani.
Dahani said when he completed the U19 season, he didn’t know there was a rule called “overage”. He showed up for trials again only to be told that he’s not eligible and needs to compete with seniors now.
“I had no idea what had just happened, but I didn’t give up and made myself realise that if I have to compete, I will have to beat everyone” said the aspiring cricketer.
After playing grade 2 cricket, he made his first-class debut last season and got 27 wickets in 8 games. His performance during the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy impressed many which is why he was picked as an emerging player by Multan Sultans.
Talking about his PSL journey and future goals, Dahani said: “I want to be among [the] best bowlers here. I know it’s a tough competition but I am giving my best.”
“Everyone has their eyes on PSL and your performances here are noticed. It paves your way to [the] national team [and] you become a true star only when you’ve Pakistan’s star donned on your chest,” added the cricketer.
“Sharing a dressing room with players like Shahid Afridi, Imran Tahir, Carlos Brathwaite is confidence-boosting for me. To be with them, celebrate with them and share a dressing room is increasing my courage as a cricketer,” he said.
Recalling his humble beginnings the fast bowler shared that he was so passionate about cricket that he never missed any game on TV.
“There was no facility, proper cable or anything so we made makeshift arrangements with friends to watch cricket matches. I had memorised stats and [the] action of all the bowlers then,” he said, adding that he aims to emulate bowlers like Shane Bond and Jofra Archer who are his role models.
