Date-stamped : 05 Nov96 - 10:14 28 October 1996 Hasan Raza - World record with the age of 14 Rheinfelden, Oct 28: Hasan Raza goes into history books on Thurs- day as the youngest player ever to appear in a Test match when Zimbabwe and Pakistan battle out for the series in the final game of the two-match rubber at the Iqbal Stadium at Faisalabad. The first Test at Sheikhupura ended in a draw. When schoolboy Hasan Raza will be officially named in the playing side on the opening day on Thursday, he will be 14 years and 228 days and would, thus, break the 38-year-old record of Mushtaq Mohammad. Mushtaq, who will see his record go out as Pakistan team manager, was 15 years and 124 days when he made his debut against the mighty West Indies at Lahore in the 1958-59 series. "The boy (Hasan Raza) is fantastic," Mushtaq said after supervis- ing the training session on Wednesday morning. Skipper Wasim Akram also looked after his fielding session and watched Hasan Raza bat at the nets from the non-striker`s end. Akram was later seen passing on some valuable tips to the teenager after he had completed his workouts at No 4 position. "Raza has impressed me. I haven`t seen him before but I am im- pressed with the way he has batted," commented Akram after the conclusion of the training session. "He seems to be confident and a perfect batsman." Hasan Raza, born on March 3, 1982 in Karachi, was extremely mod- est. "I don`t know yet if I am playing. But if given chance, I will try to put up my best show to justify my selection." Hasan Raza, a Matric student of the Boys Secondary School, FC Area, earned the vote of the selectors after he scored four centuries and three fifties in the National Juniors Cup. He scored a record 791 runs at the tournament. He also represented Pakistan at the under 15 Worldcup and scored a fine 80 runs not out against India at Lord`s. Though immensely talented, Hasan Raza is extremely raw at top grade cricket. For him it will be a tough task to come to terms at such a young age and give a good account of himself. His Test debut will not only be a test of skills and potential but also of his nerves. Contributed by M.Farhan.Tufail (tufails@bluewin.ch)