Mohammad Talha
Mohammad Talha (born 15 October 1988) is a Pakistani right-arm fast-medium bowler. He has gained an increasing reputation on the Pakistani domestic set-up for quick bowling eventually leading to a call up to the international squad for the February 2009 test series against Sri Lanka.[1]
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mohammad Talha | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 15 October 1988 Faislabad, Punjab, Pakistan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm fast-medium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Bowler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 192) | 1 March 2009 v Sri Lanka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 16 January 2014 v Sri Lanka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ODI debut (cap 197) | 2 March 2014 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last ODI | 8 March 2014 v Sri Lanka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007/08– | Faisalabad | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008/09– | Punjab | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008/09– | National Bank of Pakistan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 20 January 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Cricket | ||
Representing  Pakistan |
Domestic career
Relatively inexperienced at this stage but was first noticed in 2005 Afro-Asia Cup playing for the Pakistan U-19's, able to extract bounce and sharp burst of speed. However injuries limited his performance in the coming year. His performance in the 2008–09 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy gained him recognition, playing for National Bank of Pakistan alongside fellow young pace prospect Mohammad Aamer he gained his first 10-wicket haul against Pakistan Customs side, taking 10 for 119 in match. Halfway through the season he had 34 wickets in just 6 games.[2]
In the past few years he has worked extensively with Aaqib Javaid at the National Cricket Academy based in Karachi, where he slightly re-modified his action to avoid persistent injuries. Aaqib said of Talha that he believed him to be close to national team selection and that he was the fastest bowler in Pakistan after Shoaib Akhtar.
In a recent interview Talha commented on his desire to known as a genuine fast bowler and to represent Pakistan at the highest level.[3]
I want to be a 145kp/h+ bowler. I dont want to get slower, I just want to get faster and faster
— Mohammad Talha
In the home test series against Sri Lanka in 2009, he was chosen in the 15-man squad for both the first and second test. For the first test he was overlooked for pacemen Sohail Khan and all-rounder Yasir Arafat.
Early career and personal life
Mohammad Talha grew up in Faisalabad, where he began playing tape ball cricket, encouraged by his elder brother. Muhammad Talha has a daughter named Rumaan. He lives in Hajia Bad. He got his early education from Government School Hajia Bab. In 2003 he went for the Under 16's trial in the Faisalabad region and got selected but admits to not having the stamina at the time for longer version of the game. He has stated that like many young Pakistani bowlers of the current era Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were his cricketing idols whilst growing up and also added that Brett Lee too someone he try to learn from. He has modeled his bowling action on that Brett Lee's.
International career
Talha made his test debut against Sri Lanka on 1 March 2009. Although he failed to impress after bowling 17 overs, he gave away 88 runs and picked up the wicket of M. Muralitharan, who was batting at number 9. The match was later cancelled due to attack on the Sri Lankan team. He got a recall in the Pakistan team in 2014 to play again against Sri Lanka. This time, he bowled brilliantly and picked up 3 wickets in both the innings. He made his ODI debut against India and bowled amazingly well, picking up 2–22 in 7 overs. But proved out to be very expensive in the next two games, giving away 1–68 in 7 overs against Bangladesh and 1–56 in 6.2 overs against Sri Lanka in the final. He was a part of Pakistan's 2014 ICC World Twenty 20 tournament squad but had to sit in the bench during the whole tournament.