Date-stamped : 05 Nov96 - 10:14
3 November 1996

Hasan Raza is determined to go a long way

Rheinfelden, Nov 4: A boy, who just started his cricket only  two
years back and also served as a messenger at the National Stadium
Press box, is now the youngest player to earn a Test cap.

Hasan Raza is the teenager who has broken a long standing  record
of compatriot and now his manager Mushtaq Mohammad by a long mar-
gin of 251 days.

Raza, born on March 11, 1982 at Karachi, started serious  cricket
in  1994 when he joined one of the city clubs, Khudadad Gymkhana.
In an year`s time, he went onto skipper KCCA Zone II in the  KCCA
Inter-Zonal  Under-14  Championships  and  a year later i.e. this
season, he earned the selectors nod for the Junior World  Cup  in
England.  Good  performance there, helped Raza earn selection for
the KCCA Under-19 team which was to defend its  title.  Raza  not
only helped KCCA retain the honour but he helped himself by slam-
ming four centuries, including one in the final, watched  by  the
national selection committee.

Picked up for the Sahiwal three-dayer, Raza  played  impressively
for 58 and 22 but failed to earn a call for the Sheikhupura Test.
But Shadab Kabir`s failure and his personal innings of 96 and  22
in   the  Quaid-i-Azam  Trophy  match between  Karachi  Blues and
Whites, made the selectors to invite him for the series decider.

Now that he has taken the field, and has opened his account  with
a  magnificent  boundary off Paul Strang, it is to be seen how he
fares in the Test and in future.

"I will show that I am good enough and the  selectors  have  done
right  by selecting me ahead of many other senior pros," a modest
but determined Hasan Raza said.

Raza, second of three brothers and as many sisters,  didn`t  hide
his  ambitions  either. "I want to go step by step. I am not in a
hurry. I want to perform in this Test, then in the next  and   so
on.  I  don`t believe in achieving landmarks. I only believe that
if I ensure myplace in the team, I will be able to walk over  all
records,"   Raza,  a  Matricstudent  of Boys Secondary School, FC
Area, said.

Hasan Raza said "My happiness was unlimited when I  was  selected
for  the  World Challenge Cup in England. So you can judge what I
would be feeling playing Test cricket with the players I  watched
on  television.  It`s an honour, pride and the greatest moment of
my life. I hope I keep carrying on from here."

MUSHTAQ MOHAMMAD: Mushtaq Mohammad, who  saw  his  record  vanish
from  the  record  books from the players gallery, was all praise
for Hasan Raza. "I congratulate him and  wish  him the  best   of
luck.

"He has been picked purely on merit.  He  forced  his  way  after
scoring   so  many  runs  in  different levels of the game.  This
means the boy has something and it is precisely why he  has  been
select- ed ahead of hundreds of cricketers. Now let`s see what he
does in the most difficult stage of cricket."

<END> Contributed by M.Farhan.Tufail (tufails@bluewin.ch)