ISLAMABAD: Pakistani spinner Sajid Khan made his debut against Zimbabwe in Harare last season and has since gone on to pick up 18 Test wickets from just four matches.
Khan, however, was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and neither did he make it to the Pakistan Test squad on the back of any favours or recommendations, according to an article published by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Khan's spectacular rise to fame.
While Khan, who hails from Mardan district of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, was passionate about cricket, and talented, he couldn’t find a permanent place in the Grade-II and First-Class squads as KP kept on discovering players with huge potential and talent.
Eventually, he travelled to Dubai in search of greener pastures. He used to work at the Dubai airport five days a week and play cricket all over the weekends.
Khan got a break after returning to Pakistan. He appeared for the Grade-II trials and joined the camp after selection. There, Imran Khan Senior, who had already played a few Test matches for the country, saw that Khan did not have any shoes.
“He [Imran Khan Senior] asked me if I had cricket shoes, but I couldn’t say to him I didn’t,” Khan told PCB.
"Imran realised that I didn’t have cricket shoes so he took out a pair of cricket spikes and handed them to me."
Those shoes worked magic for Khan in his very first match against WAPDA, wherein he was representing Peshawar.
“Within four overs, I had taken six wickets and that is when my career took off,” he said. “Once the domestic structure was revamped, I got an opportunity to play for the Second XI and I scored 96 runs and took 13 wickets in a match against Balochistan.”
Khan was immediately picked for the first-class, where he didn’t disappoint and took eight wickets against Balochistan in his first match.
He grabbed headlines around the world when he took 12-128 against Bangladesh in Dhaka in December 2021. This was the third-best figures for any bowler in a Test match in Bangladesh.
His journey, however, began over two decades ago, when he was an eight-year-old cricket enthusiast in Mardan.
“I have two elder brothers; one is a rickshaw driver the other runs a grocery shop. Only those without a father would know what a struggle it is,” Khan told PCB.
“When I grew up and started college, I used to do some odd sport-related jobs like fixing bat handles and grips and made between Rs400 and Rs500. I would also sell cell phones to make some money that I could spend on purchasing cricket gear.”
The Pakistani spinner considers hard work, perseverance and determination the main factors for whatever success he has achieved so far.
The 28-year-old still has a long way to go and does not agree with the perception that one needs to be well-connected to be a national star in Pakistan.
“People who claim that you can’t play cricket without any recommendation or source lie. I would say it is a total lie,” he said.
“If you work hard and stay determined you are rewarded. I have fought hard and struggled for 20 years and then only have I reached here without any recommendation or source.”
Khan credits his achievement to his mother’s “unflinching support” and says whatever he has achieved, he owes it to her: “I owe everything to her and even today I look up to her for support, guidance and prayers.”
