WHEN Sachin Tendulkar, then 16, strode to the wicket on his Test debut for India in 1989 in Karachi, a seven-year-old Pakistani boy, somewhere in the crowd, recalls feeling inspired. His name was Hassan Raza.
Seven years later he too surprised the cricketing world by being selected for his debut for Pakistan in the second Test against Zimbabwe, which they won inside three days by 10 wickets yesterday to take the series 1-0.
At 14 years and 227 days, Raza's record as the youngest Test cricketer will surely never be broken. Notwithstanding an apologetic moustache, he has the face of a boy, but the bearing and confidence of a man.
His temperament, as much as his ability, was what persuaded the Pakistan selectors to pick him.
Young Hassan did not even wear a helmet while batting, instead proudly sporting the green Pakistan cap - somehow one small enough to fit him had been found.
He had gone out in a helmet, but after facing four balls of Bryan Strang's medium pace, he sent it back to the pavilion. If ever there was a symbol of confidence that was it.
Raza only started playing the game with a cricket ball two years ago. Before then, it had been with a tennis ball in the streets of his home town Karachi. His father was never that interested in cricket, so it fell to his elder brother, Mumtaz, a genuine fan, to take him to nets at the Khudadad Gymkhana club.
Last year he captained the Karachi Cricket Club Association, Zone Two side to victory in the inter-zonal under-14 Championships. Then came selection for the Under-15 World Cup in England last summer.
On his return he was put straight into the KCCA Under-19 side for the annual national tournament. He hit four hundreds in four games, one of which was the final, watched by the national selectors.
Picked to play against Zimbabwe in their three-day tour opener, Raza made 58 and 22. This was his first first-class match and in his second, for Karachi Blues against Karachi Whites, he again impressed with 96 and 22. Mushtaq Mohammed now stepped in to convince the selectors the time was right. The opposition was the key, for he would not have wanted the boy roughed up by a fast bowler. Zimbabwe had only a collection of medium-pacers.
Mushtaq pinpointed the weakness of Pakistani domestic cricket as an important reason to blood Raza. ``Our provincial and club cricket is poor,'' the Pakistani team manager said.
``We don't have the same system as England with its under-16s, under-19s and county second XIs. But that is also one of your problems - too many young players have to go through so many stages to get to county cricket, and are then often kept out by old dogs. If you don't try kids out, you'll never know how good they are.''
Raza is very mature for his age and extraordinarily gifted. A stroke-maker, he played his natural game as he had been told to do.
Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shahid Nazir took the last seven Zimbabwean wickets in the first 21 overs yesterday morning. Swinging the ball at pace on a pitch of occasional unevenness, the three took all 10 wickets between them.