The Boy Can Play is a new series giving the lowdown on cricket's young high-fliers. No 2: the flashing blade who made his first century at Sharjah last week in only his second match for Pakistan by Qamar Ahmed
Wednesday, November 7, 2001

NICKNAME Nedee.

AGE 25. Born February 21, 1976.

TEAM & ROLE Right-hand opening batsman and right-arm medium-pace bowler for Sargodha in Punjab and for Customs.

BACKGROUND Comes from the agricultural town of Sargodha in Punjab. His father Mohammad Latif also played first-class cricket for Sargodha. Has a university degree in Arts. His cricketing heroes are Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Mark Waugh and Inzamam-ul-Haq.His greatest influences have been Chaudhry Nazir and former Test cricketer Jalaluddin. Made his first-class debut for Sargodha against Lahore City at Sargodha, 1993-94.

STYLE Has a crouching, side-on stance and good footwork. A well-organised opening batsman with a compact defence and also a wide array of strokes. He is a good cutter and puller but also a front-foot player who relishes driving in front of the wicket.

CHARACTER A softly-spoken man who likes having friends around him. His motto in life is "do not hate anyone and love everyone including the umpire". Mentally tough and always ready to learn. He likes badminton and is interested in swimming and music.

CAREER RECORD Since his debut in 1993-94 he has been playing for Sargodha and Customs and has also played for Bahawalpur. He started to flourish in 1998-99 when he made his first two hundreds. In 2000-01 he was one of two batsmen to pass 1000 runs in domestic cricket, scoring 1352 runs at 46.62 - which included an innings of 394 against Gujranwala.

HIGHLIGHTS That 394 against Gujranwala at the Jinnah Stadium in Gujranwala. His 595-ball innings lasted 13 hours in which he hit 52 fours and five sixes in a total of 721 all out. His innings was the third-highest individual score in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy or any other tournament in Pakistan. He made his first one-day international century (115) against Sri Lanka at Sharjah in the 2001 Sharjah Cup. It was only his second international.

OUR VIEW Like Wajahatullah Wasti, Imran Nazir, Ali Naqvi, Shahid Afridi and Imran Farhat, Naved has now been given the opportunity to open the innings for Pakistan. In the absence of Aamir Sohail, Pakistan need a solid opener to partner Saeed Anwar. Naved could be the answer. He is solid in defence and has all the strokes and temperament to go with it. His ambition is to become a regular member of the Pakistan team. He can make it.

HIS VIEW "I want to be recognised as a cricketer and become a regular member of the Pakistan team. I have been working hard on my game and I have now made a hundred in only my second match for my country which gives me a big incentive and encouragement. Now it is up to me to work hard on my cricket and prove to my team that I can contribute."

EXPERT VIEW Mudassar Nazar, the Pakistan coach, says: "Naved has the potential to establish himself in the senior team. As a former opening batsman myself, what I have seen of Naved in the coaching camp in Pakistan and at Sharjah makes me think he has all the ingredients to become a successful opener. He can pull, hook and cut and has a cool temperament which is necessary for an opening batsman. He also has a good sense of humour and can take it from the fast bowlers. He is not one of those who can be intimidated. With people like Inzamam, Anwar and Youhana around him I think he can learn the art of batting quickly."

Qamar Ahmed is a leading Pakistan cricket writer.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd