BEING selected to play for the national team is the dream come true for most state cricket batsmen, but being picked in the Pakistan A team was a nightmare for Shahzb Khan.
When the announcement was made he was in an intensive care ward, having been involved in a traumatic car accident the day before.
He had suffered a spinal injury that would keep him away from the cricket field for three years.
News of the selection was another painful twist of fate.
“It was completely shattering,” said the 27-year-old who now plays for Macquarie University.
“This is what I’d dreamed of since childhood and it just fell apart in front of my eyes.”
Khan’s strong cricketing pedigree seemed to guarantee that he would achieve his dream. Former Pakistan captains Imran Khan and Majid Khan are his uncles and current player Misbah-ul-Haq is his cousin.
“Cricket is in my blood. I was supposed to be up there with them.
“It is impossible to explain how I felt to be left out,” Khan told the Northern District Times during a break in practice at the Macquarie University Fields.
But if cricket is a metaphor for life, this was just a slump and it did not drive Khan into retirement.
Setting a new course for his life, Khan returned to university and completed an MBA at the Lahore School of Economics and eventually moved to Australia, where there is more opportunity to work in business.
He was invited to play at a Twenty20 tournament, where he caught the eye of Macquarie University captain Tim Morrow.
Khan took up an offer of a spot in the Macquarie University team, which plays in the Sydney Shires competition.
“At first I was ambivalent about moving to Australia, because I thought it would be lonely, but cricket has allowed me to make many new friends.
“I’ve also developed a new perspective about a lot of things. I appreciate the Australian cricket culture, where talent is recognised and appreciated.
“In Pakistan, you can’t go very far if you don’t know the right people.
Asked about the Pakistan match-fixing scandal he said it “definitely does happen”.
“I know people who have been approached, both by Pakistani and Indian bookies.
“The fact is Pakistani cricket players do not make that much and the practice is lucrative for them. Things aren’t going to change until they get paid as much as the Indian players do.”
For now, Khan has left behind the world of cricket politics and is focusing on a career in business where the leadership skills he has acquired captaining his side at university and state level will come in handy.
“The new dream is to be the director of a company. I will always love cricket though. I play now mainly for exercise and recreation,” he said.
