Statistics:

Full name: Adnan Ilyas Sulehri

Born: 30th December 1984, Zafarwal, Punjab, Pakistan

Current Age: 24 years

Batting: Right-hand bat

Bowling: Right-arm medium pace

Teams: Oman (Oman Under-17's)

Times Of Oman :

Imagine you are playing for Oman cricket team in a Twenty20 final and you need 155 runs to win but your team is two wickets down with no runs on board. What do you do? Well, we know what Adnan Ilyas did in Kuwait: He walked across the stumps to paddle-scoop one away for four. Next, he converted a yorker into a full toss and hit it straight down the ground. Game over and Team Oman won!

Everything about Adnan Ilyas is perfect…

As a batsman he has always been attractive to watch, hard-hitting, with every shot in the book, unafraid to hit the ball in the air and as a human being, he is humble, resilient and unflappable.

In a freewheeling chat with Times Sport, the 24-year-old batsman from Zafarwal in Pakistan who is coming off after winning the Asia Cup Trophy Challenge in Thailand talks about his growth as a cricketer, his marriage and what Oman means to him as a sportsman...



How it all began

The roots of cricket come from his family. Tall and robust Adnan is the son of Mohammed Ilyas who has inspired Adnan to take up cricket from childhood. His elder brother Baber Ilyas was also a star cricketer in his days.

“Cricket is in my blood. My father was a good cricketer so was my brother. Both of them played a big role in setting up my cricket life. I used to be a good fielder when I began as a player,” he says.

It was a random event that changed his life. While studying in Pakistan School Muscat (PSM), he got enrolled in the school cricket team and played Oman Cricket Club (OCC) League games — first for under-13 and later for under-17.

Adnan was instrumental in building a strong PSM line-up. “I won many man of the match awards while playing league for PSM. My teachers during those days were very supportive. If I am getting all this recognition today it is all because of their blessings,” Adnan says obligingly.

Playing league was a boon for Adnan. He was selected to represent Oman Under-17 national team to play the ACC Cup in Dhaka in 2001 and a sizzling hundred (199 against Malaysia) brought national recognition for him. “That tournament began as the stepping stone to success for me. The following year I was selected as the captain of the under-19 national side to play ACC Cup in Nepal. I scored a hundred against Qatar and was declared man of the match,” Adnan remembers.



The success story

As the years went by, Adnan, a sincere opening batsman brought humility and a deep intelligence to his study of the game. “As a cricketer you learn as the time goes by. You learn by yourself, by self-analysis, start thinking about the game a lot. I know how my mind works, how my body works, and what I need to score runs. I put my life on the line every time I play that one ball,” he details.

Adnan’s golden phase began, arguably in 2004 when he cracked two double hundreds in the A Division League. He was then selected to the Oman national team for the Asia Cup qualifying round trophy in which he scored a 14-ball 50 against Bhutan. Adnan is undoubtedly a brilliant opening batsman who is capable of destroying any formidable attacks and is also a good right arm medium pace bowler.

“In that ACC Cup, I scored 39 runs against Qatar and took four wickets. Another big tournament was in Pakistan in 2005 when I played for the U-19 national side. I scored 168 runs against Hong Kong and took six wickets to be declared the man of the match,” Adnan says.



It’s all destiny

Adnan’s amazing run is no triumph of substance over style, though, for he has plenty of both. He is someone who plays every shot in the book; he often outscores teammates in the course of partnerships with them. “I used to be aggressive right from the time I took up this game. It is just accidental that I outscore my teammates while batting with them. Some of the players often say that when I am batting at the other end, they can play without any pressure,” he says.

Adnan is both an artist and a craftsman who develops an innings perfectly. “I don’t study cricket too much. Whatever I have learned or experienced is through cricket I have played on the field,” he says.

But like every cricketer, Adnan too faced slump in form. In the 2005 ICC World Cup qualifyiers in Ireland, he was off colour. It continued to another year when the team toured Malaysia. “It’s all destiny. A cricketer goes through different phases of his career. I had some of the best performances during my initial days but as it went by I had to face some stiff challenges. I could not score runs or take wickets in few tournaments. The pressure naturally was on me primarily because you are playing for the national side and your team expects you to perform and you let them down, and then there will be pressure,” Adnan says.

But nothing could stop Adnan; a whirlwind hundred against UAE cemented his place in the team. But it was in the Twenty20 match in Kuwait in 2007 that he showed his true destructive prowess. He scored 48 against Kuwait in the semifinal and a 54 against Afghanistan in the final. The tournament turned out to be the turning point of his career.

“At one point of that tournament, I knew that I had to perform. Luckily for me that tournament turned out to be fruitful. When we were two wickets down, the pressure was on me. There were some 500 Afghanis in the stadium. But I played well and the team won although Oman had to share the trophy with Afghanistan,” he says.



Oman my team

Although Adnan hails from Zafarwal in Pakistan, he always loved to play for Oman.

“I am brought up here in Oman. I had always cherished playing for Oman one day. My parents are settled here,” he says. At the same time he says playing for Pakistan is not easy.

“It is very difficult to get into the Pakistan national team. It is not at all easy. You can see thousands of young cricketers knocking at the door of Pakistan team but in vain. “Then how do you expect me to? My finest moment came when I got the call from the Oman Cricket Club (OCC) saying that I am into the national side. I was the youngest cricketer to be selected at that time,” Adnan says.



Big dreams

Oman’s dream of entering the World Cup was shattered after Sultanate’s early exit in the ICC World Cup qualifying round in Ireland in 2005. They now have one more chance in March and Adnan is already dreaming of playing in the World Cup. “We do not want to waste this chance again. We will play to our potential and Insha Allah, we will qualify,” he says.

Oman cricket team will be soon touring Sri Lanka for practice matches ahead of ICC World Cup qualifiers in South Africa.

“The challenger win in Thailand will make a huge difference to how we perceive our cricket and how we are regarded. We have achieved a lot over a period of time. It is a challenge when we set out to achieve something that we dreams for,” he says.

He suggests that if green turfs and more cricket academies will be made available in Oman, then the country can go a long way in further achieving its success. “We often face some form of difficulty while playing on green turf wickets overseas. More cricketers will be nurtured if there are some more cricket academies,” he says



Credit goes to…

“Some six months ago on a Sunday morning we found each other and since then we are together. Everything fell in the right place after that. My career hit a new high,” Adnan isn’t talk about his relationship with his captain, coach or mentor. He’s trying to explain his love towards his wife Samreen who according to him has been a source of inspiration.

“We got married on August 3, 2008 and ever since she has been lucky for me. I have done extremely well in all the tournaments. Although she does not know anything about the game of cricket, she has motivated me to perform well. Every time I go for a tournament, she tells me to relax and do not take tension,” he says.

He would like to thank Madhu Jesrani, general secretary of OCC, Jitendra Redker, technical adviser of Oman team, his teammates and his whole family. “I have no words for Redker saab. When I scored a 50 and got out in Thailand, he came down to me and asked: when you are getting a 50 why do you get distracted? When you don’t score runs you cry and when you steady your innings you simply throw it away at one stage. Be a thinking cricketer. That was his advice. I took it up seriously and played throughout the tournament without getting out,” he detailed.