England has a cricket ace in teenager Haseeb Hameed. With a classy 82 under his belt in the second innings at Rajkot, Gujarat, that was once the home state of his parents, everybody including his family knew he was and is a huge talent. Called the “Baby Boycott” and the “Bolton Blocker”, Hameed’s sixer off Indian spinner Ravindra Jadeja took everyone by surprise, as it came came quite early – in just the sixth over of England’s second innings, when one would normally err on the side of caution.
Born in the UK to Gujarati immigrants from Umraj village near Surat, it was his father Ismail who acquainted him to cricket.
Building huge expectations for himself, the 19-year-old has stepped into the world of the sport at a time when Twenty20 is reigning supreme and players are bought for million-dollar cheques.
“He’s organised with his batting. A very hard worker as well. Calm. Level-headed,” said Adil Rashid about him.
Praise isn’t something new for the teenager as he had been getting a lot of it in the past two years. Hameed has been compared to Michael Atherton, his Lancashire senior who gave him his Test cap, and to Jonathan Trott, when his batting at Old Trafford last year had spectators rooting for him.
With mounting praise, comes pressure. England coach Trevor Bayliss remains wary of putting additional stress on the cricketer after he hit the highest Test score by a teenager for England. He, however, went ahead to compare him with Sri Lanka’s record-breaker Kumar Sangakkara. “It’s early days obviously for him, but the early signs are that he’s a very, very good player. For one so young, 19, his composure is very good. He knows how his game works, something that players years in advance of him would like to have, I think. Without wanting to put too much pressure on him, the signs are good,” Bayliss said.
Also noting his good behaviour, the Australian coach added, “He’s been with the squad for about six weeks, but it feels like he’s been here for two or three years – he’s got that type of a personality. He’s one of those batters, a little like a Sangakkara, who just loves batting – whether it’s in the nets, having throwdowns or with a tennis ball in the changing room. He just loves to have a bat in his hand.”
Hameed only has his father to thank. An opening batsman himself in the Bolton Association League, Ismail was known as ‘Geoffrey’ for the way he played. He sent his older sons to play for Tonge Cricket Club in Bolton, but neither of them made it past club level. Haseeb believes his father “sacrificed his life” to help the brothers succeed in theirs.
