After a heavy defeat at the Multan Cricket Stadium in the first of the three-match series between England and Pakistan, the home board decided to include Mir Hamza, the left-arm pacer, for the last two games in Multan and Rawalpindi, but because they decided to go with one lone pacer on a spin-friendly surface, Aamer Jamal played the role superbly.
But the merry-go-round career of Mir Hamza again took a wrong turn as he came into the third and final game of the Test series with a niggle in his right glute and was ignored from selection for the red-ball game. Since making his debut in 2018 against Australia at the Abu Dhabi ground, the bowler has featured in only five more clashes.
He has picked 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. In the case of his first-class record, 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.
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The team management decided to bring him back for the second Test against Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Stadium, where he picked a couple of wickets from Mominul Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim in the 16 overs he bowled in the first innings, while in the second, he was nailed for 46 runs in 14 overs.
Mir Hamza leaves Pakistan’s Test squad to continue rehabilitation in Karachi
Due to the little injury of Jamal, the Karachi-born was supposed to replace him for the Pindi Test, but the new injury hasn’t led him in doing so. Two days before the Test match, he didn’t train during the team’s three-hour-long practice session.
He was seen to be doing a little bit of exercise with resistance bands under the supervision of their physiotherapist, Cliffe Deacon. Even in the first practice session of the Green Brigade, he didn’t bowl at all. Mir Hamza wasn’t included in the Pindi Test against England.
He has been released by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) from their Test squad to allow the pacer time and scope to continue his rehab in Karachi, as they announced on the opening day of the decider.
They also gave a break to two of their experienced fast bowlers in the form of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, for the second and third Test matches as they prepare themselves for the upcoming white-ball series in Australia, which begins on November 04.
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Mir Hamza, with his sheer ability to bowl at a quick pace in a consistent manner, could prove to be a vital member of the side during their series down under. Even they are making a trip to South Africa for the two-match red-ball series by the end of the year, which will again offer them a chance to use the pace of the bowler.
So, it will be important for the board to manage the bowler in a better shape and keep him fit before the tour. At home, they can think of preparing spin-friendly surfaces, but outside those, it will be up to the fast bowlers to deliver for them with pace, bounce, swing, and seam. And their captain, Shan Masood, will be well aware of the whole structure.