Worked in the Sunday Bazaar outside the stadium where he performed: Mehran Mumtaz

‘My mum can’t watch the match, because if I get hit, she gets sick.’

It is to say that the emerging player of Peshawar Zalmi, Mehran Mumtaz, who was not hit at all in his first match in PSL, but his bowling was called a ‘turning point’ by captain Babar Azam.

Mehran Mumtaz, who came to PSL after playing first class and under-19, bowled well in the powerplay against Multan Sultans in his very first match and played a key role in the victory of his team Peshawar Zalmi.

Mehran Mumtaz took one wicket in his debut match against Multan Sultans with 20 wickets in four overs.

Speaking to Independent Urdu after this performance, Mehran Mumtaz said that ‘before the match I was told that I have to bowl an over in the powerplay.’

Mehran Mumtaz says that ‘when captain Babar Azam saw that Saeem Ayub’s bowling was going well, he also gave me overs.’

‘When I took the wicket of Reza Hendricks, Babar Azam came and hugged me, loved me and congratulated me very much.’

Mehran Mumtaz, a young bowler from the Forward Kahota district of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, continued his speech and said, “The Sunday market used to be held outside the stadium in which I have performed, where I used to work.”

Talking about his cricketing career, he said, ‘My story is very long but in short, I received cricket training from an academy in Rawalpindi.’

‘I used to play cricket in the street. Then I joined the cricket club. I started cricket initially as a fast bowler because I was very inspired by Mohammad Amir.’

Talking about his life before cricket, Mehran Mumtaz said, ‘My brothers used to work in the Sunday market and I used to be with them.’

“I want to point out that there are no shot cuts in cricket. If today I have become Mehran Mumtaz, it is behind my 10, 11 years of hard work.’

When asked about his mother’s reaction to the performance at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, he said that she was very happy but she did not come to the stadium to watch the match.

Elaborating further, he said, ‘My mother doesn’t watch matches because if I beat her, her health will deteriorate.’

Mehran Mumtaz credits his father, who is no longer in this world, mother and cricket club coach Rafi Hashmi for his success in cricket.