'He is my role model' - Pakistan U19 opener Haider Ali wants to score a double century like Rohit Sharma

India’s batting maestros are seen as role models by budding cricketers across the world. While Sachin Tendulkar has been an eternal favourite, current stars like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are no less popular. Kohli has quite a following even in countries like Pakistan and now his deputy in the limited-over formats, Rohit, has also emerged as an icon.

Pakistan Under-19 opener Haider Ali, for instance, wants to emulate the ace Indian opener to hit a double century in the limited-overs. Rohit has more than one double ton in the 50-over format and the highest individual score in the same format at the moment — 264 — is also owned by him.

Speaking to Geo.tv from South Africa where he is currently playing the U19 World Cup, Ali acknowledged Rohit to be his “role model” and that he wanted to play like him. “My role model is Rohit Sharma, I want to be a batsman like him. He bats so bravely and confidently, I want to emulate his style of batting,” Ali said.

“Of course, scoring a double century in one day cricket is my dream. My aim is to score as big as possible. As an opener, I try to score big so that team can get a solid start,” he added.

Only Pakistan batsman to score an ODI double century is Fakhar Zaman

Only one Pakistan batsman has scored a double hundred in ODIs and it is opener Fakhar Zaman (210*) against Zimbabwe in 2018. Saeed Anwar also came close to scoring a double hundred in the ODIs when he made 194 against arch-rivals India in 1997.

Ali made his first-class debut last year for Northern and made 654 runs in 13 innings. Before the ongoing World Cup, he scored a 38-ball 70 scored against Nigeria in a warm-up game but could make 19 as his highest in the group games which was against Zimbabwe. Pakistan qualified for the Super League quarter-finals as the second team from Group C after Bangladesh and will play Afghanistan in the last-eight clash in Benoni on Friday. The winners of that match will meet defending champions India in Potchefstroom on February 4.

“We have got ample time to prepare for the knock-out match. I am confident that we’ll continue our march in the tournament,” Ali said.

“The tournament provides us a great opportunity to show our skills and cement a place in Pakistan squad. I am looking forward to getting the maximum advantage [from] this platform of U19 cricket, prove myself, and get selected for Pakistan team,” he added.

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