From throwing rocks down mountains and training by swimming across rivers and streams in Pakistan’s troubled northwest, unheralded pace bowler Sohail Khan has come a long way.
The 30-year-old was a surprise inclusion in Pakistan’s 15-man squad for the World Cup as he was not considered amongst the favorites until the morning of the announcement.
However, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif described Khan as “gatecrashing” his way into contention after a string of impressive performances in domestic cricket.
“He has gatecrashed into the World Cup squad,” said Latif, who is credited by many for grooming the raw talent of Khan in his domestic team, Port Qasim.
“His recent performances forced the selectors to give him a chance and I am confident he will make his mark in the World Cup,” he said.
Khan took 64 wickets in Pakistan’s domestic season last year and got ten wickets in a one-day event — an impressive show, which forced him into the World Cup squad at the expense of unfit Umar Gul.
However, it has not been an easy ride for the well-built Khan.
As a youngster, dreaming of making a name for himself, Khan used to throw stones down the hills in Malakand — the mountainous tribal area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province — to build muscle to bowl fast.
Deprived of basic cricket facilities, Khan initially played with a tennis ball.
“I grew up with a desire to make my name in cricket,” Khan said. “We did not have any facility to play the game, like a ground or a gym, so someone told me that if I throw stones over a distance I could build my muscle to bowl fast.”
Routine swims in the streams and rivers in the tribal area helped further develop his body.
A relative told Khan to try his luck in Karachi where he was spotted in a talent hunt program before he landed in the safe hands of Latif who honed the tribal talent in his academy.
“I owe a great deal to Latif,” Khan said. “He told me how to use the new ball and how to use different tricks as a fast bowler. What I am today is because of him.”
Playing for Sui Southern Gas Corporation, Khan took an astonishing 65 wickets in his debut first-class season in 2007, with eight five-wicket hauls.
If that was not enough, he recorded the best match figures in a first-class game in Pakistan with 16-189, which broke the long-standing record of Fazal Mahmood who once took 15-76.
That was enough to give Khan a place in the national team in the one-day international series against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh at home in 2008.
A return of four wickets in three matches was not enough to cement his place and over the next three years he managed to play three more one-day mateches, two Tests and three Twenty20s, the last in Zimbabwe in 2011.
It seemed he would be lost to the game, but Khan’s hard work finally paid off.
“I never got disheartened,” Khan said. “I am now in the World Cup and want to make an impression ... I want to bowl fast and take wickets for my team.”
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