Meet Faisal Akram, the left-arm wrist-spin prodigy brought home by Multan Sultans

NICK FRIEND - INTERVIEW: The Cricketer first met Faisal on the outskirts of Multan shortly before the pandemic, when he was a 16-year-old with dreams of playing in the PSL; that ambition may well become a reality in the coming weeks

Nick Friend | 12/02/2024 at 12:25

"Faisal Akram is just 16 years old; he bowls impeccable left-arm wrist-spin. Remember the name."

Those were The Cricketer's words after a week spent at the Tareen Cricket Academy in Lodhran four years ago, a matter of weeks before the pandemic shut down the world.

Faisal was one of a host of young spinners from the local community of rural South Punjab, brought together from all over by Multan Sultans owner Ali Khan Tareen for a weeklong camp, under the guidance of foreign coaches flown in specifically for what is now about to happen.

There is a special symmetry to the appointment of David Parsons, the former ECB performance director and ex-national spin coach, as Sultans' spin coach for the upcoming Pakistan Super League. Parsons received the call out of the blue – he works with England Netball these days – from Tareen, once Saqlain Mushtaq was forced to withdraw from the role for scheduling reasons.

Part of the pull, though, was the opportunity to reunite with Faisal, now 20 and preparing for a first PSL campaign at his home franchise.

He has spent the last two years on the books of Karachi Kings but without making his debut. This time, things are different: Faisal, Multan born and raised, is the incoming part of a trade that has seen Shan Masood, Pakistan's Test captain, go the other way. These things aren't like for like – Masood has been signed into Kings' gold category, Faisal still counts as an emerging player – but it remains a major show of faith.

"I will try to meet the expectations that the owner and coaches have for me," he told The Cricketer. "For the last four years, I've wanted to be part of Multan Sultans, so I am very happy that it has finally happened."

When The Cricketer and Faisal last met, they ended up bowling left-arm wrist-spin to one another in the nets to the right of the entrance of the academy, a rural oasis buried along a dusty sideroad in the midst of vast acreage of sugarcane, wheat, cotton and mango trees.

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^{Faisal Akram has previously been used by Pakistan to replicate Tabraiz Shamsi's approach (Richard Huggard/Gallo Images)}

It is both a long way from the reality of the PSL and also part of the process designed by Tareen, who has since renamed the initiative simply as the Multan Sultans Academy. The idea, as per the title, is to develop youngsters from the region for this opportunity.

"When I started to play cricket, I did not know that I would achieve all of these things so quickly – playing for Multan Sultans, playing at a high level," says Faisal.

Muhammad Shahzad, another who has been part of the academy, was picked up through the supplementary draft. Shahzad has represented Pakistan at consecutive Under-19 World Cups. Their plan is beginning to bear fruit.

"I also made my first-class debut this season," adds Faisal. "But what I knew was that if I continued to work hard and put in the hard yards, I would get the rewards, and that is what has happened so far."

He has 20 wickets in three first-class appearances for Pakistan Television, including 19 wickets in his last two matches, with Umar Akmal, Ahmed Shehzad and Rohail Nazir among them.

He puts much of that success down to the consistency of messaging from Mohammad Wasim, his red-ball coach and also part of the backroom staff at Sultans, as well as a two-month spin-bowling camp at the National Cricket Academy under the eye of Mushtaq Ahmed.

But there is also enormous gratitude to Parsons, who during a different phase in both their lives' worked with a young Adil Rashid, for the impact of a single week in 2020.

"He understands my game and what my weaknesses are," says Faisal. "I haven't been in touch with him since, but the week we spent together helped me a lot. He shared a lot of knowledge with me that has proven helpful ever since."

Parsons has also told The Cricketer of his excitement to be back involved with Faisal, who grew up like many a left-arm wrist-spinner watching videos of Brad Hogg. "He had a great skillset," he says. "I've tried to pick up a lot from him." These days, Kuldeep Yadav is his frame of reference, but Pakistan's senior team have already picked into Faisal as a useful resource.

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^{Faisal Akram has joined Multan Sultans via Karachi Kings for 2024}

Ahead of a white-ball series against South Africa, Misbah-ul-Haq, then the head coach, drafted in Faisal to act as preparation for Tabraiz Shamsi. Faisal was a teenager at the time, but Misbah had been suitably impressed in a one-day competition to call on his services. He promptly got Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan out in the nets; and in this story of completed circles, Faisal and Rizwan are about to be PSL teammates.

"The guys like Babar and Rizwan made me feel comfortable and at home," he recalls. "It took me a bit of time to adjust but they settled me down."

He has been around Multan before; in 2018, the franchise's first year, he was brought along as an 18-year-old net-bowler as an extension of the academy offering.

That is as close as he has come to a PSL debut, having never made it onto the field for Karachi. In a way, though, this works better: a youngster from Multan, representing Multan. Franchise cricket doesn't normally do romantic, but this is a nice tale. His aim is to be the best emerging bowler in the tournament.

"I feel at home now," he says. "Multan is my home city and I know the coaches, so it is nice to be home.

"It is a matter of great pride to be representing my city. I want to go on to represent Pakistan and be part of that club of a few players, like Inzamam. I'd love to represent Pakistan, make my family proud but also the city."

Remember the name.