Key Points
About four years back, it was in the hilly terrain of village Matta in the Swat Valley that an indulgent Mamu was invited to watch his nephew bowl on a well-rolled pitch that had come up on the rocky bank of a cackling river for a tape-ball cricket game..
Ihsanullah during a PSL match. In a land blessed with perennial fast-bowling surplus, a mid-140 kph pacer doesnt turn heads..
It was only now when the boy from Matta, while playing in the Pakistan Super League for Multan Sultans, shattered the stumps of the internationally-reputed power-hitter Iftikhar Ahmed with a 152.65 kph ball that recognition and stardom came his way..
Since his PSL five-wicket haul, he has spoken about bowling faster than Umran Malik who clocked 157 kph during the last IPL, about making it to the Pakistan World Cup squad, making his debut against India, getting five wickets, and scalping Virat Kohli..
On his YouTube show, the host and Pakistan crickets old hand Dr Nauman Niaz recalls how some years back, Rashid, while watching the Kashmir Premier League, called him to say that he had seen a genuine fast bowler..
