Legendary Pakistan leg-spinner Abdul Qadir’s son has decided to move away from his native country and play cricket in Australia. Usman has reportedly taken this decision after he failed to make into the Pakistan cricket squad.
Usman,while talking exclusively to a Pakistani website Pakpassion.net, has alleged that Pakistan Cricket Board ignored him deliberately and termed them biased. He also revealed that he was offered Australian citizenship back in 2012.
“I was offered Australian citizenship back in 2012 around the time when the Under-19 World Cup ended. At that time, I did not accept the offer on the advice of my father, as he felt that I had done well at the Under-19 level and had a bright future ahead with the Pakistan side. I went back to Pakistan and was ignored for selection from the national side,” Usman was quoted as saying by PakPassion.net.
“I then told the Pakistan Cricket Board that I am going back to Australia which prompted them to add my name to the Pakistan squad for the 2013 tour of West Indies. However, very close to the time of departure for the squad, my name was removed without any reason due to what can only be described as a case of ‘dislike’ for a certain player,” he added.
Usman, however, was inducted into the Lahore Qalandars squad for the Pakistan Super League in 2017 but once again, he didn’t play a single game.
Usman has played two Under-19 World Cups for Pakistan and became a centrally contracted player in 2010. In 2012, he took a five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka Under-23s in the ACC Emerging Players tournament in Singapore and was poised to make the senior team for a limited-overs tour of West Indies in 2013, but wasn’t picked
Usman grabbed the spotlight when he fetched nine wickets against Zimbabwe Under-19 and was again successful against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the tri-series, where he grabbed six wickets at 12.83.
