As Hassan Khan crunches another shot with the sort of power that sends bowlers diving for cover rather than attempt to stop the ball, he looks every bit a man amongst boys. It is not the only reason the 16-year-old batter stands out among his peers in the net area at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. There is also the red helmet he wears, with the Afghanistan Cricket Board crest on the front, plus the Karachi Kings training top. It is not the standard issue training gear of the other Sharjah Cricket Academy inductees.If the broad-shouldered power-hitter passes a striking resemblance to Mohammed Nabi, the pioneering great of Afghan cricket and IPL star, there is a reason. He is his son, and the evidence suggests he is a chip off the old block.
Hassan had his first crack at men’s cricket during Ramadan. Playing for the Bukhatir XI, one of the leading sides in UAE domestic cricket, he hit 71 not out off 30 balls, an innings that included seven sixes. For Sharjah veterans, it might have felt like a case of history repeating itself. When Afghanistan’s refugees-turned-cricketers first started establishing themselves in the international game, the UAE’s oldest cricket venue became their home ground in exile from their strife-torn homeland. Nabi, who was a central cog in that trailblazing side, would regularly be spotted sending sixes over the stands and into the road. It was stuff like that that appealed to his son. “My first memories of cricket are of watching my dad playing on the TV,” Hassan said. “It makes me feel proud, seeing him and knowing what he has done in cricket, and knowing that my father is a very well-known person in international circles. “I don’t feel pressure because of it. I want to follow in his footsteps and play for Afghanistan.”
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