KARACHI: Pakistan’s young right-handed batter Haider Ali has joined Derbyshire County Cricket Club for the upcoming County Championship 2023.
According to the County club, Haider has joined the squad and is upbeat about working under former Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur and playing his natural aggressive game.
Haider signed a deal with Derbyshire for the entirety of the 2023 season, which begins against Worcestershire in the County Championship on Thursday.
Hello there, @iamhaideraly 👋
Our young King has arrived at The Incora County Ground 🇵🇰👑#WeAreDerbyshire #WelcomeHaider pic.twitter.com/9ZzF4HlgFy
— Derbyshire CCC (@DerbyshireCCC) April 3, 2023
Haider also expressed his excitement on working under Arthur, having seen his impact during the latter’s stint as Pakistan head coach between 2016-2019.
“I’m very excited, it’s my first time playing county cricket and I love the coaching of Mickey Arthur,” he said.
“I think it’s difficult for anyone to play all formats, but I’m lucky to have the opportunity and I’m so excited to get started. It has been a dream of mine to play under Mickey, as soon as he called I said ‘I’m ready to play county cricket for Derbyshire.
“In Pakistan, our red ball cricket has completely different situations because it’s always hot weather, the pitches are not so good for seamers. In England, the pitches will be good for seam and swing.
“I’ve spoken to the coaches and they can help me, but I can still play my natural game. I like to attack the bowler, but every bowler is a good bowler in county cricket, so you need to choose bowlers to play your natural game against.
“In white ball cricket, I can play to the team requirements. If I need to be aggressive, I can do that, but if I need to bat 15-20 overs, I can do that too. I’m really excited to experience the Derbyshire crowd.”
It is pertinent to mention that Haider was a part of the Pakistan side which finished as runners up in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. The right-handed batter represented Pakistan in 33 T20Is and two ODIs.