Inches closer to living the dream

Zahid and Haris Rauf were the two fastest bowlers when Qalandars held the trials

Elders say there is a time for everything. Sometimes, no matter how prepared you are for something, you need to wait until that time arrives. Such is the tale of Mohammad Zahid, or Karnal Zahid, as people commonly know him.

Starting his tape ball career as a kid in the mid-2000s, he evolved as a cricketer and progressed well to professional cricket. For the 2023 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), Zahid is picked in the Silver Category and he is keen to make his debut this season.

“I remember when I started playing, I wasn’t even good at bowling. All I knew was that one runs up to the mark and aims at the wickets. Everything else I picked up along the way,” said Zahid while talking to Bol News.

Zahid started his journey with Pakistan’s ace pacer Haris Rauf. He was at the same talent hunt program conducted by Lahore Qalandars, where Rauf showed glimpses of his potential and was selected by the franchise.

He and Rauf were the fastest two bowlers at the hunt and they impressed the selectors.

“I remember we used to pass every stage of the trial with ease,” he shared. “One ball and the coaches would select us. It went like that up until everyone broke for lunch and in true Gujranwala fashion, they served biryani.

“I remember telling Haris to let us skip this and arrange some fruits so that we are able to run and bowl fast at the final trial.

“That’s what we did. We practised until the fruit came and then we had some of it and gave our trial.”

Qalandars took the 29-year-old under their wings and groomed him, eventually making him an asset for Pakistan cricket.

Meanwhile, Zahid had to wait a bit more and take a longer route for his turn.

“I was in Dubai when Lahore Qalandars first called me, they needed players in the 2019 edition and I was there. Aqib Javed asked me to have my paperwork ready and I did, but then right before entering the bubble, I got tested for Covid and it was positive. I had to wait a few days before I could get tested again. When I finally recovered, it was all too late,” he said.

For the next couple of years, he travelled with Qalandars and shared the dressing room with some of the best talents in Pakistan and learned a lot from them. So, it was not all lost for Zahid as he learned a lot during the span.

Now, instead of the reigning champions, Quetta Gladiators have picked the fast bowler and he is thrilled to learn from his much-experienced teammates and also play his part wherever it is possible.

“With Quetta Gladiators, my approach is the same as it has always been. I will interact with my peers and seniors to get knowledge and if I am called in to bowl, I will put in my heart,” he said. “Finally, I have a chance to show the authorities what I’m made of.”

However, he has not set any materialistic goal for himself, such as the number of wickets he must pick or the pace at which he should bowl. Numerous times, he has come close to his goal and at the last moment, he found himself afar.

“I don’t set myself any lofty targets because frankly, luck has not been on my side from the beginning. I have gotten many opportunities and when the moment came, I hit another roadblock,” he said. “So if I was setting myself any targets like that I would have been defeated by now.

“The only reason why I manage to keep going is by living in the present only. I focus on what is in front of me and then the next thing and then the next. So my goal right now is to focus on my game and my fitness so that I can perform whenever I am asked to.”

Zahid has not played a single First-Class game, yet he is a few steps closer to achieving his goal of representing Pakistan as PSL has been the platform to impress the decision-makers and then go on to wear the national colours.

The right-arm pacer is quick, which he believes is an advantage over his contemporaries. Moreover, he feels he can bowl even quicker if he gets better facilities and coaching.

“We do not have many fast bowlers in the country. And I think I can get much faster,” he said. “I believe that if I was backed by a team and I had their resources behind me, I would be able to work on my fitness and on my action better, which I think in result will make me more lethal. I do not think I have tapped my potential out as yet.”