Not making it to IPL Abid Mushtaq has already 32 wickets in Ranji Trophy this season

Not making it to IPL Abid Mushtaq has already 32 wickets in Ranji Trophy this season

Rapacious for success, star performer deserves a better deal

A scalp hunter he certainly is, rapacious for runs he surely is, ravenous for fame he definitely is, hungry for success he obviously is, but mean, he simply is not. He is Abid Mushtaq, a genuine gentleman and J&K’s ace cricketer–an all-rounder to a perfection, who is a left-arm orthodox bowler and left-handed lower-order batsman.

This extraordinary talented cricketer, who unfortunately failed to make it to the Indian Premier League (IPL) this season, has already 32 wickets in his kitty in the six Ranji Trophy matches played so far in the season while representing Jammu and Kashmir in this prestigious tournament, with 8/18 against formidable Vidarbha as his best, which is the second best in the country. With 29.00 as his bowling strike rate, he stands 4th in the entire country and with 14.38 as his bowling average, Abid is among the top ten in India.

He was brilliant with the ball in this season’s Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 and Vijay Hazare One-Dayers in which J&K qualified for the knockout stage.

The best part of Abid’s performance is that he took all these wickets against the strong sides like Punjab, Railways, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Gujarat and Tripura.

Moreover, this die-hard cricketer, a tough customer, who is a hard nut to crack, rather a class act when on song, promising bowling all-rounder, Abid Mushtaq has a good record in First-Class, List-A and T20 Tournaments, being organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) among all its affiliate units across the country.

He has taken 71 wickets with a magnificent economy rate of 2.91 and an average of 19.6 in his 19 First-Class matches, besides taking 22 wickets in equal number of matches in the T20 format with an economy rate of 6.30 and an average of 20.6. In List-A, Abid has 18 scalps in 23 matches with an economy of 5.21.

As a batter, Abid has scored 577 runs with an average of 23.1 and a strike rate of 92 in his 19 First-Class matches, besides scoring 411 runs with an average of 29.4 and a strike rate of 120.2 in his 23 List-A matches.

All in all, a complete package as a cricketer, a force to reckon with, a true athlete, possessing motor ability, sharp reflexes, anticipation and always having a pair of safe hands in business.

Brilliant with the ball, superb with the willow, especially in the slog overs, having mastery in playing cameos and extraordinarily skillful fielder, Abid should have been an automatic choice for every IPL franchisee, However, that is not the case. He surely deserves a better deal!