If you can dream it, you can achieve it!
“You have got the potential to be an exceptional fast bowler. You are tall, well physiqued along with the added bonus of being a lefty”, were the words constantly repeated by my father throughout my youth as he saw me grow up playing cricket. However, a lazy Faaiz never really considered his advice as he was busy smashing fast bowlers to the stands, establishing himself as one of the most destructive batsmen not only in his family but also at school. While many believed Faaiz was acting like a sloth, casually turning up for matches, batting as an opener, by-standing the whole bowling innings from the boundary but the bitter truth was that he never really had the chance to bowl.
As a part of a family well known for producing fast bowlers (his Dad was the captain of Punjab University’s cricket team as a fast bowler), he never really got the chance to bowl. Ever since his childhood, his siblings and cousins would look for a person to bowl at. Being the middle child of the “Sab say chootay chachu”, they made him the scapegoat. He would be forced to bat as all his cousins would bowl brutal bouncers, sometimes even hurting him but the constant voice in his head yelling, “Don’t be afraid of them!” kept him going on! As a kid, he would always wonder what the bowlers achieve by hurting someone with fast-paced rising deliveries rather than easily getting a wicket with Yorkers. At school, with very limited time and too many people to play, you had to select either batting or bowling during the sports period as you’ll only get the chance to do one of them. As a result, he rarely had the opportunity to bowl, excelling as a batsman consequently.
If you think A-Level only messed with your life and the way you think, you may be fairly wrong as it had many other implications, even on the cricket field. Despite being arguably one of the best batsmen, people looked for ways to punch him down with constant body shaming and mimicry of his left-handed off-spin bowling action. He reminded himself of the fact that many legends of the game such as Kallis, Ranatunga, and Inzamam were not skinny either, yet stamped their authority wherever they went. Despite being heavy skinned, not letting people’s opinions get to his head, he did ponder over the comments believing that answering his critics with his performance was the only solution. Therefore, one day rather than bowling Jadeja-style Yorkers as a spinner, he decided today’s the day he will experiment with his fast bowling in a one-on-one match against Shahzaib Ansar. Faaiz marked his run-up, imagining himself as Shoaib Akhtar, a tiger ready to be unleashed, dismantling the middle stump of the batsman. His legs took a time to gain the proper momentum, releasing the ball with his slinging action, aimed at the middle stump. The bad side of imagining yourself as a hero is the swiftness of nature to give a reality check. The ball wasn’t even fast, maybe 10% faster than the regular off-spin he bowls, enabling Shahzaib to change his stance from righty to a lefty, one knee on the ground, a proper swing of the bat, sending the ball onto the rooftop with his perfectly timed switch-hit.
On the bright side, the six was so long that we ended up losing the ball but deep inside, the shot killed the little hope Faaiz had of becoming a bowler soon. Slogging a six wasn’t enough for Shahzaib as he flexed with a switch hit? Dejected, Faaiz vowed not to even try bowling fast to anyone at all, closing the chapter of his dream to emulate what Freddie Flintoff did for England in his prime. The best part of having a best friend is that he will somehow try to cheer you up even if the logic he applies may be fairly dumb. “Be like me. Do not bowl often and let others think you are a really good bowler. If you are forced to bowl someday, just act super frightening in the run-up and you should be oozing with confidence. That’s enough to be a good bowler”, exclaimed a Sherlock Fahar Laqa. However, life has a mysterious way of disclosing plans. Fast-forward two months, Faaiz was sitting alone in his room with a cricket ball, a shoe next to the far-end wall of the room, practicing his aim with a tennis ball, with a proper bowling action. The reason behind this was reading an interview of Malinga in which he explained this habit for improving accuracy-the main reason why his Yorkers are always spot on. How did this happen? Within two months? From rejecting the idea of even bowling fast, he was now reading tips from fast bowlers on how to improve himself.
This radical change was brought by a small incident that took place. Being a cricket fanatic, he was always looking for someone to play with, and everyone was aware of that. So sometimes, the captain of the school’s women cricket team, Mahrukh would play with him. She would bat as Faaiz bowled his typical flighted off-spins. On one particular day,
Mahrukh: Taiz try karo, mainay yeh spin aur nahi khelni
Faaiz: But mujhay aati nahi. Yehi aati hain
Mahrukh: Mushkil kya hay? Peechay say bhag kar aao aur phaink do.
Faaiz: Yarrrr?
Mahrukh: Kar kay to deekho
Reluctantly, Faaiz grabbed the ball and jogged towards the end of the tennis court on the rooftop of the school. Imagining himself being smashed and the potential humiliation to follow, he glanced at the wicket as his target, with a silent prayer, beginning his run-up to eventually approach the crease. Despite a part inside him telling to bowl slow as he feared to hurt her, he was convinced it can never be that fast to trouble her, releasing the ball with all his strength only to bowl a tame short-pitched delivery. He could only watch in envy as she stepped onto the back foot, with excellent technique and balance lofted the ball towards fine leg with a perfect hook shot. Confused, Faaiz couldn’t decipher that the fact even he can’t play that shot is more embarrassing or the fact his bowling got such treatment was more insulting. Prepared to resume bowling spin, Mahrukh said, “Kisi nay Nahi Dekha, fast karwatay Raho behtar hi ho gi”. Ignoring the fact that Mahrukh realized he felt embarrassed, Faaiz gave his bowling another try, bowling a brief spell of around 3 overs before the school bell saved him as he was left short of breathe. Such bowling sessions continued for quite a while with Faaiz trying his fast-bowling at Mahrukh whereas he bowled spin against him mates from the school team. Eventually, he realized he is good enough to have a go at them with the hope of improving while working on his fitness.
Amongst the friends he least felt hesitation in bowling to was Shahzaib, who continuously encouraged him to continue bowling even if he went for runs all over the ground. His famous quote, “Broad went for 36 runs against Yuvraj but did he give up? Did that stop him from becoming the most successful test bowler alongside Anderson?” proved to be the main driving force behind Faaiz’s journey to a fast bowler. There were times when Faaiz would lose his cool. Quite often he would be seen shouting abuses after watching Shahzaib elegantly exhibit his vast range of drives to win the one-on-one competitions. Pretty sure the cricket ground was the only place where people would get to see Faaiz shouting abuses, cursing himself with a clenched jaw that sometimes even scared Shahzaib. While it is crucial to point out that aggression in sports is a good thing, kindling the fire inside you, shouting abuses, and losing your cool is pretty much useless, as you’re lowering yourself rather than achieving anything. Nevertheless, with constant practice and training at home, it was finally time to face the last challenge before claiming to be the best bowler.
The lad with the most impenetrable defense while batting was none other than one of my best friends, Umar Cheema. This claim was not purely based on personal judgment or favoritism, the fact that no one ever managed to clean-bowled him at school was the yardstick for this label. Fortunately for Faaiz, due to some issues, Umar had not shown up for school for the last two months, giving him the element of surprise. While Umar was aware that Faaiz had been practicing and several other friends told him about his regular cricket sessions with Shahzaib, Umar wasn’t making a big deal out of it. Faaiz had challenged Umar to a one-on-one competition, hoping to earn respect from the person who used to mock his bowling several months ago. What he didn’t expect was the sly side of Umar. To make Faaiz feel hesitant in the way he played, he invited several people including Mahrukh and Shahzaib to watch their match. This may seem to be usual but Umar was well aware of how Faaiz would feel pressured with his friends watching. All of his friends knew that Faaiz used to request everyone (except for the cricket team members) to not watch him play during tournaments. However, Faaiz knew that fighting over such petty things would only distract him from the main goal in sight.
The match began with Faaiz achieving a mammoth score of 21 runs in 6 balls for Umar to beat. Remembering the last two instances where Faaiz imagined extravagant outcomes on the very first ball, this time he preferred to stay modest, hoping for a dot ball max while saying a silent prayer. This time, he had months of practice, experience gained by playing against him peers, better fitness, and more importantly, was determined to repay the efforts of his friends with a commanding display with the ball. Firmly gripping it, his eyes were fixed at Umar, his head recalling all his strengths and weaknesses, looking to bowl accordingly. His legs started moving, the long strides helping him cover more ground, jumping in the air, bowling with all the energy he could generate from his shoulders and arms with a slinging Mitchell Starc style.
They couldn’t catch him. He was running in circles all around the ground with Shahzaib shouting from behind, and it wouldn’t be wrong to say it was an Imran Tahir style celebration. After 5 minutes, he finally stopped as his lungs couldn’t take more. Shahzaib leaped onto him, pushing him to the ground. Eventually, they stood up and walked towards Umar, who was silently sitting on the concrete pitch, looking at the broken stumps beside him as Shahzaib screamed, “Ghoomti hui Nazar ayii thi genuine. Issay to pata Bhi Nahi Chala kab ball nikli. Is ka bat neechay Yorker tak poohancha hi Nahi. Sharam Kar Cheemay”.
Personally, for me, that particular wicket proved to be the most decisive one. Years of being mocked were finally over with both Umar Cheema and Ahmed Bilal recognizing me as one of the best bowlers at school. Surprisingly, Ahmed even assumed I was chucking my arm as he was unwilling to accept the drastic change in my pace only for Umar to confirm that his accusation was false as the bowling action was legitimate. The journey did not end there as eventually I was declared the fastest bowler, opening not only the batting but also the bowling for our school’s team. I did not stop there. The constant struggle continued until I was selected in the LUMS cricket team as an all-rounder. While I may not be a part of that team anymore, I enjoy bowling more than batting as of yet, finally realizing what the joy of bowling a bouncer just between the shoulders and ribcage is along with the satisfaction of a perfect clean-bowled.
While this may seem irrelevant to most of you, several lessons can be extracted from this tale. While I may not be the most naturally gifted for bowling fast, weighing nearly 100 kilograms, there is no replacement for sheer determination and will. Rather than letting the mockery of my friends get to me, I decided to act. It didn’t matter if I sucked at it. I mean I wasn’t playing an ICC World Cup was I? Yes, I would feel humiliated after being smashed for runs, even doubting whether I could bowl fast, but life somehow finds a way to bring you back up. What did Harvey Dent say? Yes that the night is darkest just before the dawn. When you are on the verge of giving up, that is the point where the real deal begins. Moreover, while my friends slacked off, believing they are the best, I kept persisting until I eventually overtook them. Once they got the reality check of not being number one, even they began working on their bowling getting over their complacency, reminding me of the story “The turtle and the rabbit”, that my teacher used to narrate. If you do not work to improve yourself, one day someone may cross you and challenge your claim of being the best. So work and never give up hope people. With that being said, I, at this stage would finally like to thank my friends Mahrukh, Umar, Shahzaib, and Ahmed Bilal for making me the bowler I am today. On a lighter note, Umar still curses Mahrukh for helping me learn to bowl fast every time he gets a knock and jokes she made me do something which my dad couldn’t achieve throughout my life.
“I was a firm believer that bowling is naturally-gifted with little scope for effort. But you, my friend, have a habit of doing the exact opposite of commonly established opinions”
-Umar Farooq Cheema
Until we all play again, I’m optimistic over my “CRICKET DREAM”
