ICC Americas’ Ali-Khan excited to be a part of CPL

Jun 25, 2016 Sports

By Sean Devers

At 25, ICC Americas pacer Muhammed Ali-Khan is honoured and excited to have been picked for the Guyana Amazon Warriors and can’t wait for the 2016 Hero’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) t20 cricket tournament to start.

Muhammad Ali-Khan at Providence

The biggest Party will bowl off on June 29 in Trinidad before the Warriors play their first game the next day in St Kitts.
“It was a proud moment to be selected for the Guyana Amazon Warriors and I am thankful for being picked. I am learning a lot from the Coaches and the senior pacers in the squad and I enjoy being in Guyana. I hope we can win the trophy for all the fans here,” said Ali-Khan.
He said he was looking forward to get the opportunity to get a good start and to play a meaningful role in his team taking championship honours.
“I was in Trinidad in January for the Super50 and now I am here and I love the people, they are so hospitable. Their passion for cricket and full of life attitude is really amazing. I am really excited and looking forward to the CPL,” said Ali-Khan.
The lively fast bowler was born on December 13, 1990, in Attock, Punjab, Pakistan before migrating to the USA as a 19-year-old. He now resides in Ohio. Ali-Khan who played only club cricket in Pakistan before he moved to America in 2010 informed that he has no intentions of playing for Pakistan.
The five-year period for a cricketer from a foreign country to be eligible to represent the USA is up and Ali-Khan is hopeful of being selected for the World Cricket League Division 4 and the AUTY Cup this year.
“My goal is to make the USA team, do well here in the CPL and hopefully impress enough to get a pick in the IPL and other T20 leagues. But my main focus is to help the Amazon Warriors win its first CPL title this year,” Ali-Khan reveled.
The Warriors were the losing finalist in the first two CPL tournaments which was inaugurated in 2013 and reached the semi-finals last year. Growing up as a child in Pakistan Ali-Khan, his brothers and a cousin would watch the West Indies matches on TV and were fascinated by their fast bowlers.
“To get the opportunity to play on the same ground as bowlers like (Curtly) Ambrose and Mr (Courtney) Walsh played on will be a fantastic and memorable experience,” Ali-Khan said with unconcealed excitement.
The first time he met Walsh was in the trials to gain selection on the ICC Americas team to play in the WICB’s 50-over tournament. The 53-old, the only West Indian with 500 Test wickets (517) headed the selection panel to pick that team.
“I spoke to Mr Walsh and he prepared me mentally for the type of pitches I would encounter in Trinidad where we played our zone of the competition. He told me how to bowl on them and I learnt a lot from his advice,” Ali-Khan disclosed.
He said the slowness of the pitches here should not affect him as much as it would for some of the other fast bowlers in this year’s CPL.
“I don’t bang the ball into the pitch and I have a skiddy action which should be an advantage on pitches that keep low. I generally bowl a full length and one of my strengths is that I bowl a lot of yorkers and cutters on slow surfaces,” said Ali-Khan.
Ali-Khan pointed out that cutters and change of pace in a T20 match especially at the back end of the innings, is crucial to the flow of runs.
The six-footer backed up his talk when he struck West Indies Test batsman Assad Fudadin on his instep with an immaculately lined inswinging yorker to trap the left-hander LBW for five during the Warriors’ first simulation game under lights at Providence on Wednesday night.
His biggest challenge will be adjusting from the cold of Ohio to the sweltering heat in the Caribbean and getting used to bowling on the turf pitches.
“Only three States in America have turf pitches. LA has four at one venue, Huston has just laid one and Fort Lauderdale, Florida where the CPL will be played. Most of the cricket grounds in the United States are matting and it very different bowling on turf if you are accustomed to bowling on matting,” said Ali-Khan.
“I have never bowled on hard, bouncy pitches and my wish is to bowl on the Australian pitches to see where I am as a pace bowler,” Ali-Khan added.
“The Stadium is empty now (referring to the practice game at Providence) but I hear Guyanese are very passionate, vocal and knowledgeable about their cricket. I am already imagining what the atmosphere will be like with a capacity crowd present when we play here next month,” stated the affable young man with an excited look in his eyes. He says a large noisy home crowd inspires, motivates and energizes the players.