15 Interesting facts about Rana Naved-ul-Hasan

The former Pakistan pacer Rana Naved-ul-Hasan is a fine strike bowler. As with most Pakistan bowlers of pace, he bowls a reverse-swinging yorker almost at will. His change of pace is another useful weapon that he uses diligently in all forms of the game. But his nous with the ball, his control over line and length and his absolute refusal to consider giving anything less than his all in the field has stood out. Rana is a globetrotter who represented several teams around the world and continues to play in Pakistan’s First-class cricket. No mug with the bat either, Rana is also a useful attacking lower-order batsman with 5 first class centuries and 12 fifties.

1. Birth:

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan was born on February 28, 1978, in Sheikhupura, Punjab, Pakistan. He was a hockey player who after a serious knee injury started playing cricket at the Government High School in Sheikhupura and later played for Lahore Division.

2. Switch from hockey to cricket:

Rana was a hockey player right up to the age of 16. He suffered a very serious knee injury and after surgery was advised complete rest from all sport for a year by the doctors. However despite the advice from the doctors, he would sneak out and play cricket in the street. He enjoyed wicket-keeping and batting in those days and that got him interested in playing cricket.

3. Pakistan A:

Rana later played domestically for Pakistan Customs and was selected for Pakistan’s A tour of New Zealand in 1994-95. He left playing cricket due to personal reasons during 1995–1999. After making a comeback, he was the top wicket-taker in domestic cricket in 2002 and made his debut for Pakistan in 2003.

4. Cricketing heroes:

In an interview to PakPassion.Net in 2007, Rana mentioned that his heroes have always been Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram. But being a right arm bowler, Waqar was the one that he admired the most and it is no secret that he modelled his bowling to a certain extent on Waqar.

5. International Debut:

Rana made his ODI debut in Sharjah Cup on 4 April immediately after the poor 2003 Cricket World Cup campaign in which Pakistan was eliminated in the first round. Playing against Sri Lanka, he took the wickets of Hashan Tillakaratne and Prasanna Jayawardene in consecutive balls but failed to take a hat-trick. Despite several good performances, he was soon dropped from the side for alleged disciplinary problems.

6. A short-lived comeback:

With injuries to key members of the Pakistani pace attack, he worked his way back into the side before once again falling out of favour with the national selectors and was unable to stake a claim ahead of emerging young fast bowlers such as Umar Gul and Iftikhar Anjum.

7. Bereaved during the Australian tour:

Rana won the hearts of the people of his nation when he continued playing for Pakistan after hearing about his father’s death during the Australian tour in 2005. This tragedy occurred the day after Younis Khan’s father had also passed away.

8. A brilliant 2005:

In 2005, he was probably the best ODI bowler in the world. In 22 ODIs he took 45 wickets at an average of 21.53. He was selected in the ICC World One Day XI and received a cap to mark that. He thanked Waqar Younis and credited him for his match-winning bowling spells during the year. His career-best ODI figures are 6 for 27, made in a victory over India in Jamshedpur in 2005.

9. Loss of form:

His Test appearances remained limited and largely unsuccessful though he bowled well when England visited Pakistan in 2005-06. His form in 2006 fell away drastically, possibly due to a groin injury he picked up at Sussex, and with the return of Umar Gul, his position was in some doubt. But as Pakistan continued to struggle with finding a fit fast bowler, he managed to hold on to his place for the World Cup, despite a disastrous South African tour.

 10. 2007 World Cup:

Rana paid the price for an unforgettable opening World Cup 2007 match against West Indies as he was dropped for the following two matches as well as being overlooked for not only the tours to Abu Dhabi and Scotland but also the two fitness and training camps. Following that, he was one of the notable absentees from the list of players who were awarded central contracts in July 2007.

11. Indian Cricket League (2007-09):

He played in Indian Cricket League for Lahore Badshahs between 2007-09. He played an important role in team’s success. He was the Player of the Series in the 2008-09 edition taking 22 wickets at an average of 12.77 and an economy of 6.66. He scored 189 runs at an average of 27 and a whopping strike rate of 144.27.

12. Another comeback:

On 22 July 2009, Rana was recalled in Pakistan ODI squad for Sri Lanka as well as for the provisional 30-man squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2009 and a day later Pakistan Cricket Board awarded him a ‘C’ category contact. After a disastrous tour of Australia in January 2010, Naved-ul-Hasan was banned for 1-year along with several other players receiving different types of consequences. However the PCB lifted his ban but he had already served six months of his sentence.

13. County cricket:

Since June 2005, Rana has played English county cricket for Sussex, where he formed an effective partnership with fellow Pakistani bowler Mushtaq Ahmed. He has also had success with the bat, scoring a First-class career best of 139 against Middlesex. In 2007 signed a two-year deal with Yorkshire while Derbyshire signed him for 2012 season.

14. The People’s Mullet:

Rana played T20 Cricket for the Australian domestic Big Bash League teams the Tasmanian Tigers and the Hobart Hurricanes since the 2009 season. He became a cult hero in the state and was known as “The People’s Mullet” amongst the masses.

15. Stats:

Rana played 9 Tests and picked up just 18 wickets at 58.00. A limited-overs specialist his record on ODIs is highly impressive. His 74 ODIs produced 110 wickets at an average of 29.28 and an economy rate of 5.57. He contributed 524 runs with a best of 33 in the format. In 4 T20Is he picked up 5 wickets. Rana has 655 First-class, 287 List A and 153 T20 wickets. He has retired from international cricket.