At the age of 34, Nauman Ali received his Pakistan Test cap on Tuesday ahead of their first Test against South Africa. But who is the little-known debutant who claimed South Africa’s Quinton de Kock as his first Test scalp? Here’s the lowdown on the bowler.
What does Nauman Ali do?
Nauman is a left-arm spinner who adds variation to the Pakistan attack with his alternative angle of attack. He is the captain of Pakistan side Northern Areas and is one of a host of new faces picked by new chief selector Mohammad Wasim, who is also coach at the Pakistani first-class outfit.
Despite being a seasoned campaigner, Nauman doesn’t quite have the wealth of first-class cricket experience to match his age, playing just 79 games. It does, however, make his return of 285 wickets from those outings even more impressive and he is a name that has been mooted with Test cricket for a while.
What’s his form like?
He led from the front for Northern Areas in their recently-concluded Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, finishing the competition as the second leading wicket-taker.
It’s a competition Nauman has great pedigree in too; he finished as the leading wicket-taker in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 editions of Pakistan’s leading domestic competition for Khan Research Laboratories and Northern Areas respectively.
What international experience does Nauman Ali have?
To put it simply, none. Nauman has not played any cricket for Pakistan at any level. Despite this, in a virtual press conference ahead of the game, he explained how his experience of playing in Karachi would aid his efforts.
He said: “I have played a lot of cricket at National Stadium and am used to Karachi’s weather so I can exploit the conditions.
“My main priority will be to bowl with tight line and length and contain the batsmen. And if during that fight I am able to get wickets it would help Pakistan.”
