It’s the rythm that counts

His height is the first thing that interests you as you sit down opposite him drinking milk. ‘‘Everyone in my family is like this,’’ Shera, as they call him at home in Khanewal says. The family of sportspersons (father Mohd Ikram-ul Haq was a volleyballer and brother Umar Farooq a club cricketer) moved from Nawa Chaha Kerian in Jalandhar after Partition and since his youth has played cement pitch cricket like most other youngsters. It was only after he decided to take up cricket seriously in 1994 that ‘‘I used to come to Multan in the morning, play a match and then go back. That was my routine for a long time.”

The meeting with McGrath happened in 1994, when an Australia-Pakistan ODI was on at Multan, and Shabbir was a net bowler. ‘‘I just marvelled at his ability to maintain a single line all through. He was very nice, and I spoke to him for a long time,’’ Shabbir says.

But it was in 1996 that Shabbir’s life changed. It was a match between WAPDA — a first class team — and Shabbir’s Multan Cricket Club. Shabbir tore WAPDA apart by taking four wickets in five overs and WAPDA lost the match. WAPDA made an offer and soon Majid Khan spotted Shabbir and he was among the national probables before he knew what was happening.

‘‘That was quite something, because I was not expecting any such thing,’’ he says and recalls his debut match against West Indies at Toronto when he picked up a wicket off the second ball and ended with five for the match.

But that’s where the fairytale ended, as allegations of his ‘‘not so clean’’ action came up. ‘‘I was obviously distrubed mentally. I never thought there was anything wrong,’’ he says as he counts the number of years he spent in the wilderness — three.

Shabbir was a forgotten man for some, but the man himself knew ‘‘everything has a way of working out’’, and ‘‘I continued to play for National Bank in the Patron’s Trophy and was doing well, so I was confident of coming back.’’ Soon after the World Cup 2003 there were massive changes and Shabbir was back in the team. Not just that, he was immediately catapulted into the role of a strike bowler. With Shoaib and Sami, Shabbir formed a terrific combo: ‘‘We form a good team. I like the new ball and feel very confident at handling it. Also there is complete coordination between us as Shoaib is a very good friend since we played for the same club in Rawalpindi.’’

But his action remained questionable, and it was on to Australia and coach Daryl Foster to work things out. Post Foster, Shabbir was ready for India. But ‘‘I am not happy with myself. In this series I have been very average.’’

His cricketing philosophy remains simple: ‘‘I do not believe in speed. My strength is getting extra bounce. I feel more than pace it is rhythm that counts. If you have good rhythm you can run in harder. But here it is so hot it takes away all the energy. If this series had been played in winter you would have seen the difference.’’

Shabbir also feels that the Indian batting is too experienced, and ‘‘we have a few inexperienced batsmen. In a couple of years they will be just as good. For the moment we have just Inzy bhai and Yousuf (Youhana) who can match the Indians.’’

As he excuses himself to get back with his mates, he checks his watch and says, ‘‘I’ll walk you to the elevator’’. The gentlest six-foot-five you’ll ever meet for sure.