{"id":2216,"date":"2023-01-13T11:12:59","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T22:12:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=2216"},"modified":"2023-01-13T11:12:59","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T22:12:59","slug":"all-rounder-muhammad-abbas-turns-heads-for-wellington-at-under-19-nationals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=2216","title":{"rendered":"All-rounder Muhammad Abbas turns heads for Wellington at under-19 nationals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__intro sics-component__story__paragraph\">The moment emerging New Zealand cricket talent Muhammad Abbas first walked as a baby he reached for a bat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">Cricket has been a lifelong passion for Abbas ever since and it\u2019s not surprising given his bloodlines \u2013 former Pakistan first-class cricketer Azhar Abbas, who also played for Auckland and Wellington, is his father.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">The 19-year-old has been the talk of the under-19 men&#8217;s nationals at Lincoln this week for Wellington, who he only linked up with four weeks ago. The Abbas family shifted south from Auckland after Azhar was appointed Wellington Cricket\u2019s new pace bowling coach.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">Abbas is tipped for a bright future and demonstrated his class, scoring back-to-back unbeaten centuries to open the tournament this week. Keep going the way he is and he could one day become the first Black Cap of Pakistan origins.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\"><strong id=\"pn-read-more-ctrl\">\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">Batting at four, he struck 101 not out from 68 balls in Sunday&#8217;s 50-over win over a Northern Districts side, featuring England test coach Brendon McCullum\u2019s son, Riley, who hit 48 in the same match.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">A day later, he was in the runs again, notching 103 not out as Wellington beat Central Districts by eight wickets on Monday, chasing down 267.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">\u201c[Back-to-back under-19 hundreds] it\u2019s very rare, but it was the quality of the hundreds. He just made it look easy and no disrespect to the bowlers, he played it pretty well,\u201d New Zealand Cricket high performance coach Paul Wiseman said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sics-component__story-video\">\n<div class=\"sics-component__story-video__video\">\n<div class=\"sics-component__story-video__video sics-component__story-video__video--responsive-16-9\">\n<div id=\"video_25ytf2\" class=\"sics-component__story-video__video sics-component__story-video__video--element video-js vjs-paused vjs-controls-enabled vjs-workinghover vjs-v7 vjs-user-active vjs-layout-medium bc-player-Syx4Zr1Keb_default bc-player-Syx4Zr1Keb_default-index-0 vjs-mouse vjs-ima3-not-playing-yet vjs-ima3-html5 vjs-dock vjs-plugins-ready vjs-contextmenu vjs-contextmenu-ui vjs-player-info vjs-errors not-hover\" lang=\"en\" role=\"region\" data-video-suppress-ads=\"false\" data-video-headline=\"Black Caps level series\" data-video-id=\"6318521040112\" data-embed=\"default\" data-player=\"Syx4Zr1Keb\" data-account=\"3921507366001\" aria-label=\"Video Player\">\n<div class=\"vjs-poster\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"vjs-text-track-display\">\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"vjs-dock-text\">\n<div id=\"vjs-dock-title-1\" class=\"vjs-dock-title\">Black Caps level series<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"vjs-dock-shelf\"><\/div>\n<p><button class=\"vjs-big-play-button\" title=\"Play Video\" type=\"button\"><span class=\"vjs-control-text\">Play Video<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"vjs-countdown\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"sics-component__caption__top-line\"><cite class=\"sics-component__caption__producer\">SKY SPORT<\/cite><\/div>\n<div class=\"sics-component__caption__caption\">New Zealand scored a 79-run win in Karachi, courtesy of a big second-wicket partnership between Devon Conway and Kane Williamson.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">Abbas, a top order right-hand bat, doesn\u2019t just score runs. He is viewed as a genuine allrounder, bowling left-arm swing. He opens the bowling for his Wellington under-19 side and has either taken the new ball or been first change through his career.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">Born in Lahore, Pakistan&#8217;s second most populous city, Abbas moved to New Zealand when he was one after Azhar ended up at Wellington\u2019s Karori club in 2004, via Richard Petrie, the former New Zealand, Canterbury and Wellington bowler.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">He discovered cricket at an early age and has never looked back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">\u201cThe first day I walked my dad gave me a bat and we played a little bit of tennis ball. I started playing all my cricket at my cricket club, Eden Roskill [in Auckland],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"sics-component__story-image\">\n<div class=\"sics-component__story-image__image-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sics-component__story-image__image--not-gallery\" src=\"https:\/\/resources.stuff.co.nz\/content\/dam\/images\/4\/z\/2\/t\/2\/e\/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.710x400.25yqew.png\/1673558404793.jpg?format=pjpg&amp;optimize=medium\" alt=\"Muhammad\u2019s father, Azhar Abbas, in action for Eden Roskill during a Jeff Crowe Cup Auckland senior match in 2018.\" \/><\/div><figcaption class=\"sics-component__caption\">\n<div class=\"sics-component__caption__top-line\"><cite class=\"sics-component__caption__producer\">DAVID JOSEPH\/PHOTOTEK<\/cite><\/div>\n<div class=\"sics-component__caption__caption\">Muhammad\u2019s father, Azhar Abbas, in action for Eden Roskill during a Jeff Crowe Cup Auckland senior match in 2018.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">Softly spoken, Abbas lets his cricket do the talking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">He was 11 when he brought up his first century for Western against Central in an Auckland year seven tournament.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">In his first year at high school at Auckland&#8217;s King\u2019s College, he played a couple of warm-up matches for the first XI and broke into the side the next season \u2013 spending four years in the team where he was coached by former New Zealand spinner Dipak Patel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">\u201cThere\u2019s a lot to like. He makes the game look pretty easy. He\u2019s got a lovely bowling action and with the bat he hits it cleanly and times it beautifully,\u201d Wiseman said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"sics-component__story-image\">\n<div class=\"sics-component__story-image__image-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sics-component__story-image__image--not-gallery\" src=\"https:\/\/resources.stuff.co.nz\/content\/dam\/images\/4\/z\/2\/t\/y\/d\/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.710x400.25yqew.png\/1673558404793.jpg?format=pjpg&amp;optimize=medium\" alt=\"Wellington\u2019s Muhammad Abbas is tipped for a bright cricket future.\" \/><\/div><figcaption class=\"sics-component__caption\">\n<div class=\"sics-component__caption__top-line\"><cite class=\"sics-component__caption__producer\">KAI SCHWOERER\/STUFF<\/cite><\/div>\n<div class=\"sics-component__caption__caption\">Wellington\u2019s Muhammad Abbas is tipped for a bright cricket future.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">\u201cThe world is light on allrounders, so it\u2019s nice to see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">Wellington under-19 coach Neeraj Chawla has spent the past few seasons coaching against Abbas when he was a member of the Auckland age-group side.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">The Abbas family settled in the capital in December and Chawla was delighted he no longer had to come up with plans to counter him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">Chawla has worked with many Wellington age-group cricketers and said Abbas was a special player, reminding him a lot of Rachin Ravindra, who graduated on to play for New Zealand.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"sics-component__story-image\">\n<div class=\"sics-component__story-image__image-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sics-component__story-image__image--not-gallery\" src=\"https:\/\/resources.stuff.co.nz\/content\/dam\/images\/4\/z\/2\/t\/y\/f\/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.710x400.25yqew.png\/1673558404793.jpg?format=pjpg&amp;optimize=medium\" alt=\"Wellington\u2019s Muhammad Abbas bowls in his side\u2019s T20 match against Northern Districts at Lincoln on Thursday.\" \/><\/div><figcaption class=\"sics-component__caption\">\n<div class=\"sics-component__caption__top-line\"><cite class=\"sics-component__caption__producer\">KAI SCHWOERER\/STUFF<\/cite><\/div>\n<div class=\"sics-component__caption__caption\">Wellington\u2019s Muhammad Abbas bowls in his side\u2019s T20 match against Northern Districts at Lincoln on Thursday.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">\u201cHe thinks differently about the game. He thinks about the game for his age very differently. He\u2019s very mature about his thinking and the way he looks at the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re happy to see him playing for us and scoring those hundreds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">Watching Abbas bat at Lincoln this week, Chawla said it was a joy seeing him out in the middle. For someone so young, he had the full range of strokes and could quickly assess the match situation and pitch conditions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">\u201cHe doesn\u2019t think about anything apart from playing good cricket and I don\u2019t think he feels anything like that [pressure]. I\u2019ve been talking to him quite a bit about the sport and he doesn\u2019t really think about all those things. He just knows he wants to keep getting better every day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">Abbas focused more on his bowling growing up, learning everything from father Azhar, who was a right-arm pace bowler and enjoyed a successful domestic career in Pakistan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">He marvelled at old video footage of Pakistan left-arm swing legend Wasim Akram as a youngster before discovering the Black Caps and idolising another left-arm quick in Trent Boult. Kane Williamson is his batting role model, even meeting him once at a hotel and sharing a conversation.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"sics-component__story-image\">\n<div class=\"sics-component__story-image__image-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sics-component__story-image__image--not-gallery\" src=\"https:\/\/resources.stuff.co.nz\/content\/dam\/images\/4\/z\/1\/l\/s\/3\/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.710x400.25yqew.png\/1673558404793.jpg?format=pjpg&amp;optimize=medium\" alt=\"Pakistan fast bowling great Wasim Akram was Muhammad Abbas\u2019 cricket idol growing up, often watching video footage of him.\" \/><\/div><figcaption class=\"sics-component__caption\">\n<div class=\"sics-component__caption__top-line\"><cite class=\"sics-component__caption__producer\">ALEX DAVIDSON\/GETTY IMAGES<\/cite><\/div>\n<div class=\"sics-component__caption__caption\">Pakistan fast bowling great Wasim Akram was Muhammad Abbas\u2019 cricket idol growing up, often watching video footage of him.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">Azhar\u2019s influence on his game had been huge, teaching him everything from a young age and developing his skills.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">\u201cHe\u2019s been there for all my cricket career so far. He\u2019s been the mentor and has given me all the coaching and has done everything to support me and grow my game, whether that\u2019s with the ball, bat, or fielding. He\u2019s the one who\u2019s helped me grow my game the most.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">Having only been in Wellington since December, Abbas has joined his father&#8217;s former club, Karori, and is excited to represent them for the first time after the under-19 nationals.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"sics-component__story-image\">\n<div class=\"sics-component__story-image__image-wrapper\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sics-component__story-image__image--not-gallery\" src=\"https:\/\/resources.stuff.co.nz\/content\/dam\/images\/4\/z\/2\/t\/y\/g\/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.710x400.25yqew.png\/1673558404793.jpg?format=pjpg&amp;optimize=medium\" alt=\"Muhammad Abbas is a gifted young cricketer with both bat and ball.\" \/><\/div><figcaption class=\"sics-component__caption\">\n<div class=\"sics-component__caption__top-line\"><cite class=\"sics-component__caption__producer\">KAI SCHWOERER\/STUFF<\/cite><\/div>\n<div class=\"sics-component__caption__caption\">Muhammad Abbas is a gifted young cricketer with both bat and ball.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">Both Wiseman and Chawla said Abbas would be comfortable playing domestic cricket, but he wanted to be patient, keep improving, and wait for his opportunity. The next step in his career would be to break through into the Wellington Firebirds and secure a domestic contract for next season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">\u201cHe needs to keep progressing both skills because it\u2019s such a sought after thing having an allrounder. He\u2019s got a great work ethic. He\u2019s a smart cricketer. I don\u2019t think it will be too long before Wellington are looking pretty closely at him,\u201d Wiseman said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sics-component__html-injector sics-component__story__paragraph\">Abbas will study second year commerce at Victoria University this year.<\/p>\n<p>Source &#8211; Stuff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The moment emerging New Zealand cricket talent Muhammad Abbas first walked as a baby he reached for a bat. Cricket has been a lifelong passion for Abbas ever since and it\u2019s not surprising given his bloodlines \u2013 former Pakistan first-class cricketer Azhar Abbas, who also played for Auckland and Wellington, is his father. The 19-year-old [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nz-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2216"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2218,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2216\/revisions\/2218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}