INTERVIEW
Follow UsWith one ball and three runs for a century, Azmatullah Omarzai was this close to getting his maiden landmark score. He was visibly distraught when he missed that ball, needing Naveen-ul-Haq to run across him from the other end to console him.
Even then, Omarzai sunk himself to the ground, completely destroyed. In just seconds, South African all-rounder Keshav Maharaj congratulated the saddened all-rounder. It was that moment which defined the rise of Omarzai.
A month ago, he was barely recognised, but one later, the world has taken complete notice of his all-round prowess, branding him as the new-generation Afghanistan star.
In many ways, Omarzai reflects the cricket brand Afghanistan wishes to play - aggressive but with the ability to learn and grasp things on the go. Omarzai’s rise to the highest level is a rather interesting story. Nothing came to him without pressing a case for himself: neither his batting nor his new-ball bowling.
“I would like to give credit to Nurul Hasan (Sohan), he was the one who wanted Azmatullah in the team. He (Azmat) was Rangpur Riders’ draft signing. Sohan had seen him closely at the Asia Cup 2022 and was convinced that Azmatullah was a proper all-rounder,” CricViz analyst Vikram Chandrasekaran told Cricket.com in an exclusive interview, recollecting his days working closely with Omarzai at Rangpur Riders.
While the Afghanistan all-rounder was around various T20 circuits, he was hardly recognised for his all-round skills. Until the start of 2022, from his debut in 2018, Omarzai batted ten times, out of which nine were at No.6 or below, and there was just this one occasion where he batted at No.5. His abilities against spin bowling were hardly ever utilised completely.
“Ideally, it is a massive advantage to bat Omarzai in the middle-overs (11-40) in ODIs when there are field restrictions, which allows him to play more aggressively. He can play spin really well, he can hit you down the ground, he can slog sweep, he can hit over extra cover, he can hit in the midwicket. He can play against the turn as well. That’s why he’s been ideally used in a spin-hitter role,” Vikram reflected on how to get the best of Omarzai, the batter.
When used correctly, as the Rangpur Riders have experienced first-hand, Omarzai’s batting abilities are match-winning. In a must-win clash against the Chattogram Challengers, Omarzai put on a show with the bat alongside the Pakistani veteran batter, Shoaib Malik.
The duo added 105 runs for the fourth wicket, taking the Riders to 179/6, in which Omarzai scored 42 off just 24 deliveries. In that clash, the 23-year-old’s batting abilities against spin came to the fore when he smashed the in-form Sri Lankan leg-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth for three sixes. All this after walking out to bat at 47/3 in the ninth over of the innings. At that point, Vikram realised Omarzai’s abilities with the bat was overly underestimated and utterly underutilised.
“Both Omarzai and I felt that, at that point, he was more than a ‘cameo’ kind of batter. His ability was there against spin. It is natural for him. You know the resistance band, he prefers that before the game. That is something that has helped him generate his power,” Vikram recollects Omarzai’s power-hitting abilities.
“Some of these Afghanistan batters have immense batting potential, and he was one of them.”
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That’s exactly what the Afghanistan national team has done in the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. They have figured out the perfect role for Omarzai, sandwiched right between the ever-consistent Hashmatullah Shahidi and the uber-aggressive Mohammad Nabi, a position that has allowed them to maximise his batting abilities.
Omarzai is the sixth-best middle-order batter in the competition, with 353 runs, averaging 70.6 and striking at 97.8. 160 of those runs have come against tweakers, against whom he strikes at 88.9, soaking the pressure of a struggling lower-order. His abilities also came to the fore when he smacked the in-form duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja down the ground against India.
In fact, he is the only batter in the Afghanistan unit to average over 60 and the second-most threatening batter with a strike-rate behind Rahmanullah Gurbaz. He is also in the elite list of six batters with an average above 60 and a strike-rate in excess of 95.
“This (the 2023 World Cup) is the first time Omarzai has been used well. Previously, they (Afghanistan) viewed him as someone who can bat a little at No.6 or No.7, but now they have given him a proper role. I don’t think he’s a proper pace-hitter down the order,” Vikram touched upon Omarzai’s role in the national team.
“Like every other Afghanistan bowler, he began as an opening batter, so he possesses the skills of a batter, and can play spin well. They are using him in the ideal position, I had even tweeted it during the India game, I wasn’t sure if it would work, but I wanted him to bat No.5 and be given the new ball.”
But what makes Omarzai more special is that he is just one of the three players in the tournament to score more than 200 runs and pick five wickets. Glenn Maxwell and Glenn Phillips are the other two all-rounders on the list, names which are already household.
In Vikram’s own admission, the Rangpur Riders didn’t make the best use of Omarzai’s bowling early on in the tournament.
“After four or five games in the 2023 BPL, I felt that the team wasn’t doing justice to Omarzai’s potential, we didn’t bowl him a lot in the powerplay. We used him in the middle-overs and at the death, where he wasn’t that strong,” Vikram added.
“Then I convinced the coaching staff that we are not using him well; these are his powerplay numbers. So, I was telling them that he could swing the ball both ways. If not for the first over, we can use him in the second over. In Bangladesh, most of the time, we use match-ups in the first over, we have a spinner operating,” Vikram stated.
But numbers aside, one thing that stuck with Vikram during his conversation with the all-rounder was his confidence.
“I saw the videos as well, and at the same time, he was also like Vikram (bhai), please give me a chance with the new ball. I told him I will see what I could do because I knew his potential with the new ball, he could swing the ball nicely,” he added with his recollection.
Omarzai, though, did not get it all in the first attempt. He had to bide time learning to stay patient in his search of laying his hands on the new ball. During the clash against India, one of the greatest cricketers of all time, Sachin Tendulkar, noticed the Afghanistan all-rounder’s wrist position, comparing it with one of India’s premier swing-bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
“Exactly, his wrist position is too good. I have seen him at close quarters, and that is one of his strengths, which is why he is able to swing the ball both ways. Though he used to bowl the outswingers to right-handers, his inswingers were more lethal. His ball to Mushfiqur Rahim was a very good delivery,” adds Vikram.
When Afghanistan did give him the new ball, it was one of the highlights of their clash against Australia. The duo of Naveen-ul-Haq and Omarzai tormented Australia’s powerhouse batting unit, taking them down one after the other.
Like his career, the start wasn’t as straightforward when he conceded 10 runs off the first two deliveries. But when put up against a beast like David Warner, it was a battle for the ages. After erring his line, Omarzai came around the wicket, a move that turned out to be a Midas touch.
He started with a maiden from around the wicket and reaped the benefit in the next over when an in-ducker removed Warner. Then, Omarzai was at his sharp best to get the ball to move away from the right-handed Josh Inglis for his second wicket. He nearly went on to pick a hat trick, beating Glenn Maxwell with a brute of a delivery.
But if it wasn’t for the clash against the then table-toppers Sylhet Strikers, Omarzai’s abilities with the new ball wouldn’t have been pronouncedly known. In that particular clash, the all-rounder bowled three out of his four overs in the powerplay, ending with figures of 3-1-3-3.
“Then, we went to Sylhet, they were the table-toppers at that point. They were playing amazing cricket, Shanto (Najmul) was in the form of his life, and Towhid Hridoy was doing well too. Zakir Hasan was there too. Omarzai picked up three wickets in the powerplay, and I was very happy.”
One of the most memorable moments from Omarzai’s bowling spell that day was his trickery to beat the willy veteran Mushfiqur Rahim. With Sylhet on the mat at 12/3, Omarzai bowled an in-swinger, a mirror image of the delivery he bowled to Warner. The ball cut Mushfiqur into half and crashed against the middle-stump.
It was a day when Omarzai announced himself ‘ready’ for the world stage. The 23-year-old picked up 15 wickets, the most for his team (Rangpur Riders), out of which 13 came in the powerplay, where he averaged just 11.1.
While he is far from the leading wicket-takers at the ongoing ODI World Cup, his seven wickets have left a long-lasting impression. When someone does all of this at the age of 23, the natural question arises: does he have the skill set to play in the Indian Premier League?
“He (Omarzai) has a good chance to make it to the IPL, someone who can bowl in the new ball and hits spin well. He has done consistently well, and he has not thrown his wicket away. Whenever given the new ball, he has a good chance of making it to the IPL,” signed off Vikram, who was constantly sounding happy when talking about the rise of Omarzai.
Azmatullah Omarzai isn’t the end of a destination; it is just the start of a journey.
