It has been a merry-go-round career in the longest format for the left-arm pacer Mir Hamza in the Pakistan side, who, despite producing quality performances with the ball in the domestic circuit, hasn’t been able to extend the same performance in the Test matches for the national side.
Mir Hamza made his international debut in 2018 during the second of the two-match red-ball series against Australia in Abu Dhabi, but in the next six years, he featured in only five more games of the longest format, picking up 12 wickets at an average of over 40 and a strike rate of 83.5, with a best bowling figure of 4/32 in an innings.
When it comes to his record in the first-class format, the 32-year-old has captured 454 wickets at an average of under 23 and a strike rate of nearly eight overs with the help of 29 five-wicket hauls and 18 four-wicket hauls at a best bowling figure of 7/59 in an innings.
The last game for Mir Hamza in the Test matches came during the recent Rawalpindi Test against Bangladesh, where he picked up a couple of wickets of Mominul Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim in the 16 overs of the first innings, while in the second, he was bashed for 46 runs in 14 overs.
Mir Hamza to miss third Test match against England with glue niggle
The left-arm pacer is carrying a niggle in his right glute and remains uncertain to get recovered and available in time for the third and final Test of the series against visiting England side, which will begin on October 23 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
In the opening game of the series at the Multan Cricket Stadium, the two veteran pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah were nailed around the park on a dry belter of a batting surface. In the reply to their first innings score of over 550, the Ben Stoked-led side put the pressure back with more than 800 runs in their lone innings.
The team management and the selectors, by then, under incredible pressure, decided to make some hard decisions and dropped those two experienced pace bowlers into the side. The recycled surface for that game meant the spinners would always have an upper hand in the contest, and they picked up Aamer Jamal as the lone pacer of the side. But, he injured himself with the bat during the second inning of the game.
Mir Hamza was supposed to replace him but, he didn’t train during the side’s three-hour-long practice session on October 22 (Tuesday). He paced around the ground at the start of the training and was seen to be doing a little bit of exercise with resistance bands under the supervision of their physiotherapist, Cliffe Deacon.
The reports have claimed that the pacer didn’t bowl on October 21 (Monday), which was the first practice session for the Green Brigade at the venue in the lead-up to the game. He wasn’t picked in the playing XI of the first two games, despite being in the squad.
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Mir Hamza could have been in the thought process of replacing Jamal to go as the only pace option for the third and final Test after they secured their first victory by 152 runs in a home Test after nearly two years.
The team will be making a trip for the two-match Tests in South Africa towards the end of the year, and the selectors could include Mir Hamza for the series.