25 Facts about Owais Shah: The Elegant Strokemaker

25 Facts about Owais Shah: The Elegant Strokemaker: Owais Shah was touted as the new Mark Ramprakash when he made his county debut at the age of 17 in 1996 but it was not to be. A stylish and classical type of batsman with abundant talent, he was considered a prodigy right from his teenage days. After a see saw career that threatened to usher into oblivion the right hander finally got his chance at redemption in 2006 against India in the whites.

Owais Shah was given an extended run in the Test side during the tour of West Indies in 2009, but a spate of run-outs convinced the selectors to look elsewhere. When on song he was a joy to watch. He later got involved in the infamous IPL spot fixing after being named during a trial. The Middlesex man was later exhonerated of any wrongdoing though.

Let us have a look at 25 Facts about Owais Shah: The Elegant Strokemaker:

1. Birth

Owais Alam Shah was born in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan on 22 October, 1978.

2. Early Signs

A solid performance in the 1997 season for Middlesex earned him the Denis Compton award for the most promising young player of the year.

3. Sad

Despite showing glimpses of his talent during his six Tests, 71 one-day internationals and 17 T20Is for England, Owais Shah never really fulfilled his potential at international level.

4. Fabulous

Owais Shah led the England under 19 team to World Cup success in 1998.

5. A Rarity

Back to back seasons with averages around 20 ended with him being dropped by Middlesex in 2000.

6. NatWest Series

Owais Shah was called up to the England squad for the 2001 NatWest series featuring Australia and Pakistan. Even a strong 62 against Pakistan in his second ODI was not enough for Owais Shah to cement his place.

7. Dip in form

Following a string of poor results and scores, Owais Shah was stripped of the vice-captaincy of his county in 2004.

8. The Comeback

Owais Shah roared back to form in 2005 when he scored 1728 runs in the county season at an average of 66.46.

9. Majestic

Added to the Test squad in India in 2006, following injuries to Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick, Owais Shah made 88 on debut in Mumbai to help secure a historic win and draw the series.

10. What a knock!!

Owais Shah helped Middlesex win the Twenty20 Cup in 2008 with a 35-ball 75 that set up victory over Kent in the final at the Rose Bowl.

11. Nickname

Owais Shah was nicknamed ‘Ace’ by his teammates at Middlesex.

12. Brilliant knock in vain

Owais Shah scored his maiden international century and took his first wicket on the world stage in a thrilling match against India at the Oval during the 2007 NatWest Series. England unfortunately lost that game courtesy Robin Uthappa’s heroics.

13. The India tour of 2008

Owais Shah represented England in the Stanford Super Series, and shone in the subsequent one-day series in India in 2008 before the Mumbai terror attacks curtailed that leg of the tour. England later came back to play two Tests as a gesture of trust.

14. Harsh

Despite hitting a brutal 98 off 89 balls against South Africa in the 2009 Champions Trophy, Owais Shah was overlooked for England one-day duty following their exit in the semi-final.

15. Miffed

Owais Shah was pretty unhappy with Andy Flower after being dropped from the England squad post the Champions Trophy. Owais Shah later said “I have got the most runs for England in the last 12 months so I don’t really know where he’s (Andy) coming from”.

16. Wellington connection

On the recommendation of his former Middlesex teammate and NZ skipper Stephen Fleming, Owais Shah was selected to play for the Wellington Firebirds in the domestic T20 competition for the 2009 season.

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17. Stint with Essex

Released by Middlesex at the end of the 2010 season – his 16th with the club – Owais Shah joined Essex on a two-year deal and became a constant run-scorer there.

18. IPL teams

In four IPL seasons, Owais Shah’s name has appeared on the squad-list of three teams – Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders and Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

19. IPL numbers

Despite being a batsman in the classical mould, Owais Shah is a good striker of the ball in T20s and has an average of 34.27 and strike rate of over 130 in IPL. Owais Shah collected 340 runs from 13 games in his first season with Rajasthan Royals.

20. First Class Retirement

Owais Shah retired from first-class cricket at the end of the 2013 season to concentrate on limited-overs formats and having become a T20 specialist, joined Hampshire for the 2014 and 2015 NatWest T20 Blast.

21. T20 leagues

Owais Shah plays for the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League since 2011, while he represents South African franchise Cape Cobras since 2010.

22. Career in numbers

In 6 Tests Owais Shah made 269 runs at an average of 26 which included a memorable 88 on debut. In 71 ODIs he averaged 30 for his 1834 runs. Owais Shah also played 17 international T20s and made 347 runs with a solitary half century.

23. Fun Fact

Owais Shah holds the bat handle very tightly while batting and that leads to strangulation in his palm, due to which, he suffers from cramps on a regular basis.

24. Unfortunate

Owais Shah was inadvertently named by an Indian Supreme Court judge alongwith 2 other cricketers in relation to a IPL spot-fixing scandal hearing in November 2014. Owais Shah was investigated following an incident involving the Rajasthan Royals, but was exonerated by the Mudgal report.

25. World T20

Owais Shah was a member of the English squad at the 2007 and 2009 ICC World T20.