Rana Naved eyes Test comeback after ODI success
Naved, the 28-year-old pace bowler, was clearly the outstanding performer in the ODIS, claiming 11 wickets at 11.81 with a best of four for 43 in the final match at the National Stadium here last Saturday. His lion-hearted performance made him the deserving recipient of both the Man-of-the-Match and Man-of-the-Series awards as he moved up seven places to 12th position in the ICC’s latest rankings for ODI bowlers.
“God has been very kind to me in the last few weeks. Obviously I’m happy to play some part in helping Pakistan win the one-day series but it was a team effort that did the trick,” Naved said while talking to Dawn on Tuesday.
“However, my greatest wish is to play Test cricket because that is something I’ve not been able to do for almost a year now. I hope luck on that front will change for me on the tour of South Africa.”
With uncertainty hovering over the future of fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif despite both of them being exonerated from the doping charges, Naved’s comeback couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time for Pakistan with the World Cup now just under three months away.
“In reality, I was not expecting to make such a dream comeback after spending the best part of this year on sidelines through injury and lack of form,” he said. “But I never let these setbacks linger on in the back of my mind. I always knew that once I regain peak fitness I would be able to get back into the groove of playing for Pakistan again,” he added.
Naved, who has so far bagged 16 wickets in eight Tests and 93 in 56 ODIs, was sorely missed during the Test series in England earlier this year since a groin problem forced him to return home while Pakistan capitulated with a weakened pace attack.
“Yeah, that was a huge disappointment for me personally since the conditions in England would have suited my style of bowling especially after the experience of playing county cricket with Sussex,” he bemoaned. “But one can’t sit and regret over it. Perhaps, it was predestined for me to miss out the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of playing a Test match at Lord’s.”
Naved did return for the ODI series in England but generally struggled to regain his old form and another lackluster campaign in the ICC Champions Trophy in India resulted in his being put back on the sidelines.
However, the selectors reposed their faith in the workhorse when they picked Naved in the one-day squad for the West Indies series.
“It was an opportunity I was eagerly looking forward to from the moment the axe fell on me after the Champions Trophy. In hindsight perhaps the break did wonders for me because I got the time to rethink about my bowling. I got back to the basics and gradually started to gain in confidence,” Naved said.
When asked how he felt after getting rid of Chris Gayle, adjudged player-of-the-tournament at the Champions Trophy, in all the four matches, Naved said getting Brian Lara’s wicket gave him more pleasure.
“Gayle, no doubt, is a fine player but the bowlers always have a chance against him because he takes too many liberties at the start. But personally, dismissing Lara twice (including first ball dismissal at Lahore) was very satisfying since he’s still a great batsman,” Naved said.
Regarding the trip to South Africa and the World Cup, Naved remained philosophical.
“Nobody knows what destiny has in store for him because now there is a healthy competition for places in the Pakistan squad. And if I’m lucky enough to play, my job would be to give nothing less than the best,” he added.