LAHORE: Former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop has hailed young Peshawar Zalmi pacer Ali Raza following his impressive hat-trick against Karachi Kings during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11 clash at the Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday.
Taking to social media platform ‘X’, Bishop praised Raza’s rapid progress, expressing confidence in the training environment surrounding the youngster.
He highlighted the role of experienced mentors in shaping his development and emphasized the importance of continued support to fulfill his potential.
“Ali Raza is in good hands with his current coaches, including Otis Gibson and Azhar Mahmood. I personally have some compliments in a chat bro. But I’ve always looked up to him. You’re doing your part to elevate him for the country. He’s a good kid,” Bishop said.
The 18-year-old returned impressive figures of 4/41 in his four-over spell and took a remarkable hat-trick in the penultimate over of the innings, dismissing Khushdil Shah, Shahid Aziz and Hasan Ali in successive balls.
With this feat, he became the youngest bowler to take a PSL hat-trick and the first player from Peshawar Zalmi to achieve the milestone. Overall, he is the seventh bowler and fifth fastest bowler in PSL history to take a hat-trick.
Mohammad Amir made his debut for Karachi Kings against Lahore Qalandars in the inaugural edition. Other fast bowlers in the list include Junaid Khan, Mohammad Sami and Abbas Afridi, while spinners include Imran Tahir and Aqeel Hossain.
For the uninitiated, Babar Assam-led Zalmi continue to dominate the ongoing tournament, with eight wins from nine matches, including a washout. They sit comfortably on 17 points with an impressive net run rate of 2.645.
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