Pakistan’s forgotten champion off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq’s cricket career appears to be heading back to a normal track with English counties Kent and Surrey making him offers to play for them in the championship.
“Kent and Surrey have made me offers but I’ve not accepted them as yet as I’m not 100 per cent match fit and I don’t want to disappoint my fans and well wishers in trying to play while I’m not at my best,” Saqlain told ‘The News’ from London on Friday.
The 29-year-old, who has 208 Test and 288 one-day wickets to his credit before he was forced out of the game last year in June because of a serious knee injury, said he had resumed training and practice at his old county Surrey.
“Surrey have been very good to me. I’ve started training with their main team and I’ve been given permission to use their facilities like gymnasium, nets etc. They’ve also deputed their physiotherapists including Dale Naylor to work with me on my rehabilitation programme,” he disclosed.
Saqlain developed ulcers in his knee bones and damaged his cartilage due to over use last year and had to undergo micro fracture technique surgery to remove the ulcers and repair his cartilage last year in England.
According to him the specialist who is looking after him Dr Rhidian Thomas drilled small holes in his knee to clean up the ulcers in his bones.
“Although the recovery process has been slow but I’ve now started playing Sunday League matches and recently Kent and Surrey made offers; but my doctor has advised me to take
it slowly and easyily,” Saqlain said.
“I’m still not 100 per cent match fit and in my last examination the doctor told me I should keep two to three months in mind before I can be back to my normal self and I can normal weight training and start playing non-stop cricket without fear of damaging my knees again,” he stated.
“So basically I’m taking it day by day and targeting a return to international cricket when England tours Pakistan from October onwards.”
“I’ve heard the Australian and New Zealand A teams are due to tour Pakistan in September and October and may be I might decide to return to Pakistan to make myself available for those series so that I can get proper match practice before making myself available for the England series,” he explained.
Saqlain played his last match for Pakistan last year against India at Multan where Virender Sehwag scored his triple hundred.
The off-spinner, perhaps one of the few spinners in international cricket to be an automatic selection for Test and one-day matches in his hey days, said he had not been disheartened by his long layoff due to injury and was confident he could make a strong comeback.
"I just want people in Pakistan to remember me in their prayers and pray for my complete recovery. Their prayers will matter a lot to me.
Everything is in God’s hand and I know he’ll give me another chance to play for Pakistan," he said.
Saqlain said he had been closely following the Pakistan team’s progress and felt Inzamam-ul-Haq and coach Bob Woolmer were definitely doing a good job with the team. “I would love to play under them and see what has changed in the team,” he said.
I hope he gets well soon and gets back some where near his best.
he is one of the best we have had in recent times and i just hope he gets well soon
