Zafar Gohar believes he is ready to join cricket’s ever-expanding dual international roster after remaking his career as a British national on the county circuit.
The Middlesex spinner lost his first – and so far only – ODI for his native Pakistan against England in Sharjah in 2015.
Now, at 31, he ticks all three boxes associated with the life of an English spinner: he is getting better with age, he can hold a bat and, crucially, he is now eligible for England.
“Whenever the opportunity comes, I’ll be ready,” says Coher from Lord’s, where he is currently immersed in his second season with Middlesex.
After four years with Gloucestershire – including eight five-wicket hauls and two ten-wicket hauls in the 2021 and 2022 campaigns – Goher moved to Middlesex in 2025 after gaining British citizenship.
He has reminded his former teammates of what they have been missing, contributing back-to-back innings victories at the end of last season and at the start of this tournament.
If the wickets have been a touch slow so far this summer, his 164 with the bat – including a rescue effort of 83 against Northamptonshire – reaffirmed his all-round credentials.
“When I moved here, I had in my mind that being a spinner in England was going to be a tough challenge,” says Gohar. “But I was proud and very happy with my record at Gloucester and since going to Middlesex, Lord’s is where I got my most wickets, where people say it doesn’t really spin much.
“I feel like if you work hard, push in the right direction, understand your bowling, skill and conditions, there’s always something for the spinners. If you try to bowl well, you’ll always get something from the pitch.”
It was not Goher’s plan to go and play in England. But with family already in the country, there were opportunities and connections to stay, with memories of watching England Tests in the 2000s – particularly the 2005 Ashes.
“When I was young I was always a fan of English cricket,” he says. “My father also loved watching cricket, and the famous Ashes was full of excitement at every match. In 2005, there was not so much T20 cricket, so all those big international series were beautiful, even in Pakistan, everyone watched it. I fell in love with Test cricket.”
The Pakistan selectors, however, did not show much love to Gohar. That lone ODI in 2015 was followed by five long years with only one more wicketless Test against New Zealand in Christchurch.
Although Gohar showed his prowess with the bat – top-scoring with 37 off nine in the second innings – he never got another chance.
“I remember Misbah-ul-Haq came to me before the Test match and said, ‘We don’t have enough seam all-rounders, so you’re going to bat at No. 8 and if we need you, you’ll bowl two overs. I remember playing that Test match and I got 34 and 35 in each innings. Yeah, there was no contact after that.
“I didn’t get the opportunities I deserved in Pakistan,” says Gohar. “I took almost 50 wickets and almost 500 runs with the bat for Gloucestershire (in 2022) and when I came back to Pakistan I had two more five-fours in three games. But then a selector said: ‘It doesn’t matter what you do in domestic cricket. I’ll do my best to get my chance.'”
He believes his card was also marked after an unfortunate sequence of events that took place in the run-up to his Test debut – against England in October 2015.
While the common perception is that he slept through his alarm and missed his flight to Abu Dhabi, he says the actual circumstances were more complicated.
While Gohar – who took five wickets in two innings in a pair of practice matches in Sharjah at the start of England’s tour – had already returned to Pakistan for a domestic game, the selectors sent out an SOS after their lead spinner Yasir Shah suffered back pain.
“I came to tea and the manager told me to get my stuff and go home because you’re flying out tonight,” Gohr recalled. “I went back to Lahore, but it was Saturday and I was still waiting at 12.30 and saw the news headlines saying, ‘Zafar Gohar does not get visa’.
I said, “I called them asking what is going on. But, look, I am very tired, I feel like I have been awake for 20 days.” “Well, sleep, we will let you know if anything happens,” they said.
“The next morning I woke up to five missed legs. I called them back and they were like, ‘Oh, you got your visa.’
Such trials and tribulations are now behind Gohar. He has a new English season to focus on, and given the positive buzz surrounding the England Test squad, if he can produce some head-turning performances in the national set-up, who’s to say what’s possible in the coming months?
Every season in cricket is a new challenge,” he says. “My aim has always been to win Division Two for Middlesex and try to contribute as much as I can. But obviously, for every player, there is always another level to achieve more. That’s what I’m trying to do. If that opportunity comes, I’ll be ready to grab it and do my best.”