Hamid Hassan

Tall and lanky at 6’5”, Hamid Hassan is a right-arm pacer who plays for Afghanistan. He has also appeared for the Marylebone Cricket Club, MCC Young Cricketers and Pakistan Customs. With no cricket in his family background, Hassan did not receive much encouragement from his family. However, he was passionate about cricket and started to make waves in the junior ranks.

Hassan first got noticed in 2006 while playing for Afghanistan against MCC and earned high praise from the likes of Mike Gatting and John Stephenson. He then toured England later that year, playing games against the second XIs.

Hassan made his ODI debut for Afghanistan in the World Cup Qualifier in 2009. He ended the tournament becoming the second leading wicket-taker with 18 wickets. Although, Afghanistan did not qualify for the World Cup, they earned ODI status. Hassan's fine efforts in the slog overs and 12 crucial wickets, also helped his side to qualify for the World T20 2010 in the West Indies. Afghanistan lost both their games in that tournament, but Hassan put up a decent show against India and South Africa.

While international opportunities were few, Hassan kept on performing consistently at the domestic level. During Afghanistan's tour to Scotland in 2010, he took his first five-fer in First-Class cricket in the Intercontinental Cup. It was also his maiden 10-wicket haul as Afghanistan won by 229 runs. For the next two Intercontinental Cups, he registered some exceptional figures, handing Afghanistan huge victories. Hassan also won a silver medal at the 2010 Asian Games cricket competition.

Hassan has also played for the Afghan Cheetahs team in the Faysal Bank T20 Cup in 2011-12. In 2012 he was bought by Barisal Burners for a reported amount of $40,000 to play in the Bangladesh Premier League.

Hassan played only one game in the 2014 Asia Cup but was very economical, registering figures of 2/26 in the match against Bangladesh. After making his T20I debut against Scotland in 2010, Hassan has turned out to be a crucial bowler, who has picked up important wickets whenever needed.

His best bowling performance came recently against UAE on December 4, 2014. In that game, he picked up five wickets for 45 runs, but Afghanistan still ended up on the losing side.

By Sonali Dhulap and Sidhant Maheshwari