Multan born Sohaib Maqsood is one of the brightest batting talents in Pakistan. The tall right-hander bats in the mould of the King of Multan, Inzamamul Haq— the third highest Test run getter for his country.
Maqsood had a roaring start to his ODI career two years ago. Batting at number three he scored back to back fifties, but his fortunes have fluctuated sharply coinciding with the constant shuffling of Maqsood up and down the batting order. He has batted at numbers three, four, five, six and seven across his 25 games.
The Pakistan think tank often comes up with some strange, and at times down right inexplicable tactics. For instance, Maqsood is yet to bat at his favourite number three since his second ODI innings, where he scored 53 against South Africa in Sharjah.
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Despite the uncertainty of his position, Maqsood has played some blazing knocks for his team already; the 89 not out in a successful 45 over 275 run chase against Sri Lanka at Hambantota last year is a particular highlight.
The soft spoken willow wielder wants to make a big name in all formats of the game, especially in ODIs. With a batting spot in the upcoming white ball games against England up for grabs, Maqsood is gearing up for the first-class season for his new department United Bank.
An in-form Maqsood batting up in the order can win Pakistan many games in both white ball formats.
And once Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq hang up their boots, he will likely be one of the contenders for a Test spot too.
Maqsood though needs to stamp his authority with the bat for a consistent period especially with the growing competition in the batting ranks.
Earlier this week, Maqsood shared some interesting accounts of his largely action packed journey at the highest level on the side-lines of his new team’s training camp in Karachi.
A shaky start
Three months after his T20I debut, Sohaib Maqsood strode out at the Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi for his maiden ODI against the might of South Africa. Everything was on the line with Pakistan trailing 1-2 in the best of five series. The Proteas had posted 266 batting first, Maqsood going in at three after a solid opening stand of 74 between Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez.
Not used to a swelling stadium, Maqsood was incredibly nervy when he faced up to his first ever ball in the 50 over format.
“I remember JP Duminy was bowling, there was a deafening noise in the stadium or at least a million decibels higher than what I was used to,” Maqsood told Sport360.
“I was almost shaking, Duminy bowled me a rank full-toss and I almost missed it before blocking at the last split second, the nerves totally got the better of me, so I was indeed lucky that I didn’t miss the ball and got out bowled on such a poor ball.”
But Maqsood soon got the measure of the bowling and stunned the visitors with a breath-taking 54 ball 56, laced with six fours and two sixes. Unfortunately, his effort went in vain with the Greenshirts surrendering the series after a narrow 28 run loss.
Running into the dressing room glass wall
The Indo-Pak Asia Cup 2014 match at Mirpur is regarded as one of the most thrilling ODIs of all time. Maqsood played a part in Pakistan’s 246-run chase with an assured 53 ball 38. The match was settled by a mighty Shahid Afridi clout in the final over of the game, the six sailing over the boundary to the delirium of the Pakistan camp.
Amongst the joy, Maqsood almost suffered a freak injury.
“I had my eyes on the ball after Afridi struck it; it went miles in the air before dropping over the rope. In my excitement of running down to the ground from the dressing room I collided with the dressing room glass wall which I lost sight of in that incredible moment. The impact was severe and I was really lucky not to injure myself.”
When Bhatti ran into the tallest ghost in New Zealand
Haris Sohail’s supposed encounter with a ghost in Christchurch on the eve of this year’s World Cup left many faint hearted Pakistan players scared that more ‘ghostly episodes’ were inevitable.
Just a few days after shaking Sohail to the core, the poltergeist seemingly followed young fast bowler Bilawal Bhatti who had endured a nightmare against New Zealand at Napier as he was despatched for 93 from ten wicketless overs.
Stats: Bilawal Bhatti equalled an unwanted record today http://t.co/MjtYkGypm0
— Karan PANDIT (@Karanhazari225) February 3, 2015
Maqsood recalls how Bhatti ran screaming out of his room after being woken in the middle of the night.
“Bhatti ran straight to Mohammad Irfan’s room which was closest to his. Irfan has this daily ritual where he goes to sleep wearing a mixture of facial creams as he believes it helps retain his complexion. So when Bhatti pounded on the door of his room, Irfan opened the door— a trembling Bhatti was doubly scared and screamed again— when the story was narrated to the rest of the squad we all doubled up laughing.”
The nagging hand injury
In an embryonic career, Maqsood has been severely troubled by a hand injury that has limited his ODI and T20I appearances to 25 and 16 respectively. Maqsood sat out for six months after the World Cup before returning for the recently concluded tour of Zimbabwe. The big-hitter is hoping to return to his absolute best soon.
“The hand injury—left hand— has set my career back. I would have probably established myself in the limited overs formats by now but for this problem. The injury worsened after the World Cup with the pain making it impossible for me to hold the bat. Thankfully I am almost 100 % now and eyeing the start of the first-class season where I hope to make some big scores.”
The priceless moment
Like most Pakistan cricketers, Maqsood grew up in an unprivileged background. Before breaking into the national team the batsman was struggling to make ends meet with a measly salary in his hometown Multan. But donning the green changed his life dramatically.
“For me the most priceless moment of my life is when my mother sat in the brand new car I bought three months after my international debut. My parents had never owned a car; I made my mother sit in the passenger seat straight after driving the car home from the showroom. She had tears in her eyes as she kept touching the dashboard and the steering.”
Setting high goals
Maqsood is clear in his head as far as goal-setting is concerned. The 28-year-old wants to make it big in the ODI format, nothing less than 200 games would quench his thirst.
“I am not going to claim that I will score 15-20 ODI centuries, my goal is to play at least 200 ODIs for Pakistan. I want to play Tests too but for now there is a burning desire to cement my ODI spot. I also want to increase my batting average to at least 40 which is the benchmark for the greats of the 50 over format.”
