Know more about all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed
Left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed, who has impressed with his consistent performances in the IPL for the Royal Challengers Bangalore over the years, has been rewarded with a place in the Indian squad for the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe. He has been roped in as the injured spin bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar’s replacement.
Apart from showcasing remarkable performances in IPL over the years, Shahbaz has also been outstanding for Bengal in domestic cricket. Without further ado, here’s all you need to know about Shahbaz Nadeem as he is set to make his India debut.
Shahbaz Ahmed: The man who sacrificed his engineering course for cricket
Shahbaz Ahmed might be enjoying his hard-earned fame and fortune now, but the road was not easy for him. The southpaw, who was studying civil engineering, told his father in 2015 that he wishes to fulfil his wish of becoming a cricketer. He was determined to get the job done after failing to make the cut in Haryana’s U19 team.
However, his father, who worked as a clerk in the sub-divisional magistrate office in the Nuh district of Haryana, agreed to shift to Kolkata provided Shahbaz completed his degree along with playing cricket.
With dreams in his eyes, a 21-year-old Shahbaz moved to Kolkata. However, he was banned from playing the Tapan Memorial Club (first division) for being an outsider. The ban was later lifted by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) and since then, there has been no looking back for him as he has been one of the key members of the Bengal team.
The hard work paid off in 2020 when he was picked by RCB for the 13th edition of the marquee tournament that was played in the UAE. Since the 2020 edition, Shahbaz has been one of the valuable assets for the Bengaluru-based franchise and has gone on to represent them in 29 matches, scoring 279 runs and registering 13 scalps to his name.
In January 2020, Shahbaz registered a hat-trick for Bengal in their Ranji Trophy encounter against Hyderabad. He took six wickets in that contest including a four-wicket haul in the first innings as Bengal comprehensively won by 303 runs. At the same time, Shahbaz also became the seventh player to register a Ranji Trophy hat-trick for Bengal.
