Rigours, resolve and 17 overs on the trot: How Aamir Jamal earned Test spot
Karachi (MNP) There are no shortcuts in life,” Aamir Jamal tells PCB Digital after his selection in the Pakistan Test side for the tour of Sri Lanka this month. “There is a certain process that one has to go through and it is only after that one truly values his achievements.”
Aamir had a stop-start beginning to his competitive cricket career. He had an impressive inter-regional U19 tournament in 2014 when he took 30 wickets at 16.97 in five matches after which he was named in Pakistan’s squad for an U19 series against Afghanistan in Lahore.
It would take him four years from there to break into first-class cricket with a debut for Pakistan Television in 2018, before he became a regular feature in domestic circuit from the 2020-21 season as he began to turn out for Northern regularly.
Aamir captured the imagination of the entire nation through an immaculate last over when he defended 15 against an in-form Moeen Ali in Lahore to help Pakistan attain 3-2 lead over England in the historic seven-match T20 International series.
Following the series, Aamir, now aspiring for a spot in the Test side, rushed north to join his domestic side in Abbottabad for the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
“It [getting selected in the Test side] is meaningful for me,” the 27-year-old says. “I was told by the national selectors that a spot is up for grabs in the Test side. I had missed the first two first-class matches of the season because of the T20I series so I went straight to my domestic team without any rest. The head coach (Ijaz Ahmed) gave me the option of resting, but I told him that I wanted to play as much first-class cricket as I could and I wanted to make it to the Test side for the two upcoming series [against England and New Zealand].
“I wanted to finish as the best all-rounder of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and that desire never let me sit out any match despite being provided opportunities to opt out with no consequences on our qualification for the final.”
Though Aamir had to wait a while for this call-up, he went on to finish as the best fast bowler and the second best overall in the tournament and played an integral role in his team securing their maiden first-class title as he took 31 wickets at 29.71 in nine matches and also recorded the best figures of the season.
“That is one first-class performance that I have enjoyed the most,” Aamir relishes as he recalls 4 November 2022 when he took eight Balochistan wickets in an extraordinary 17-over-long spell at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.
“I couldn’t get going in my first spell. When I returned to the attack I bowled 17 overs on the trot. My bowling coach Sami [ullah Niazi] bhai was calling me from the dressing room to stop, but I did not because I had my eyes fixated on a spot in the Test side. I started to bowl really well – I got one wicket, then two, then three and so on. When I got five wickets, Sami bhai told me to rest, but I said, ‘it is now that I have started to enjoy bowling’. I ended up bowling 15 overs and I bowled with uniform pace throughout.
“As I took eight wickets, Sami bhai told me to give ninth scalp a go, so I bowled two more overs. Then Ijaz bhai jumped in and told me to rest as we had more matches ahead of us.”
Aamir finished with eight for 120 as the match ended in a draw.
He recently toured Zimbabwe with Pakistan Shaheens and displayed impressive bowling skills. The right-arm seamer was the leading wicket-taker in the six-match one-day series with 16 scalps at 21 – with a five-wicket haul in the second match – and returned three for 51 and two for 45 in his side’s win in the second first-class match, the only four-day game he played on tour.
