Having represented PIA for just short of 14 years, Yasir Hameed has opted for a new challenge and moved onto Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited.

 by Saj Sadiq

15 November 2010

Having represented PIA for just short of 14 years, Yasir Hameed has opted for a new challenge and moved onto Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited.

The 32 year old opening batsman who was part of the Pakistan squad earlier this summer in England has a first class average of 36.55 and has hit 17 centuries and 36 half centuries in first class cricket.

Speaking to PakPassion.net Yasir stated that he needed a fresh challenge and the offer from ZTBL came just at the right time.

"You could say I was going a bit stale at PIA and I needed a fresh challenge. Sometimes when you have been playing for the same side for such a long time, you can start going throgh the motions. The offer came from ZTBL and I thought it was the right time to make the change. My new team mates have made me feel very welcome and the fresh challenge is one that I want to take on."

Hameed smashed 106 for ZTBL in an innings victory over Islamabad in the recently concluded Quaid E Azam trophy fixture and stated that he still has hopes of playing for Pakistan once again, despite the News of the World sting controversy.

"I want to score plenty of runs in the Quaid E Azam Trophy and to give the selectors a reminder of my talents ahead of the tour of New Zealand. I feel I have a point to prove to many people. I want to prove to myself that I am a better player than what I showed on the tour of England, I want to prove to the selectors and to the critics out there that I still have what it takes to play international cricket."

Speaking of the News of the World story where Hameed was the victim of an undercover video sting in which he was seen talking to a man, the undercover reporter, in Nottingham a few days after the end of the Test series in England. 

Hameed stated that "it was a difficult time for me and it was a real low point in my cricketing career. In a way, it was a lesson for me and no doubt others out there to not be so naive. Of course with the benefit of hindsight, things would have turned out differently. But, I am glad to be playing cricket again after missing out on the Faysal Bank Twenty20 competition and have put the events of the summer well behind me. I've moved on and will let my bat do the talking from now on."