Nauman Ali inspired by Vettori, Herath

Pakistan’s left-arm spinner Nauman Ali, in a virtual press conference on Tuesday, revealed that he was inspired by New Zealand’s legendary former spinner Daniel Vettori and Sri Lanka’s legendary former spinner Rangana Herath, after being selected in Pakistan’s 20-man squad for the home series against South Africa.

The 34-year-old stated that he watched several greats of the game in action and tried to emulate the important aspects that set them apart from the rest.

“I watched Wasim Akram a lot and followed Brian Lara. When I started bowling however I tried to follow Daniel Vettori and Rangana Herath. I have also watched Saqlain Mushtaq’s bowling a lot. I kept seeing these on Youtube. The spinners I followed, I tried to pick the good things from all bowlers, like line, length and variations,” Ali said.

“I belong to a small city of Sanghar. I then shifted to Hyderabad and played there for some time. I started playing cricket because of my maternal uncle who represented the Pakistan side,” he added.

The left-arm spinner, who was selected for the national squad based on his stellar domestic performances, told reporters that he felt elated after being selected in the squad for the home series against South Africa.

“When the selection was announced, I was at practice. Our manager told me that I was selected for the national squad. I lost all sense of where I was for the next 10 minutes. I felt elated. My family and friends were also very happy. We have been playing here for the last two years. I am accustomed to playing at the National Stadium and the weather. I will try to perform my level best if I am selected for the final side,” he said.

“I have not targeted anyone in particular. I will just try to give a 100 percent and bowl as well as I can to get the batsmen out. We will start our camp and we will plan accordingly with our staff on how to tackle the South African batsmen,” he added.

Ali believed that it was vital for the morale of domestic cricketers to know that their performances could result in an eventual spot in the national side.

“It is really good for domestic cricketers to know that if they perform well, they can get into the national side. I don’t think anything can be better than that. I think the domestic cricket in Pakistan has been really good in the past two years. I think everyone will now try to perform well and do the same,” he concluded.