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England's tour of India, 2016. A boy aged 19 made his debut for the tourists. Nicknamed 'Baby Boycott' after legendary opening batter Sir Geoffrey Boycott, Haseeb Hameed was the 10th partner for Sir Alistair Cook in the opening slot following the retirement of Andrew Strauss.
The expectations from the fans were sky-high. After an impressive debut season for Lancashire, Hameed was expected to be the successor to the throne of Cook, who was in the twilight of his career. And Haseeb Hameed did start well.
Hameed hit his first half-century in the second innings of the first Test at Rajkot. He went on to aggregate 151 runs from the first two Tests at an average of 38. It must be remembered that his knocks came against really testing spin-friendly conditions that are alien to a youngster who has played all his cricket in England up until that point.
But the real test of his character came in the third Test. Hameed broke his little finger during the match and was doubtful to bat in the second innings. However, as wickets tumbled and England looked like folding up rather quickly, Hameed walked in at number eight on the back of Paracetamol to numb the pain. He ended up playing a gritty knock of 59*. Already dubbed a tough cricketer, this was a true display of his grit and determination.
The opening batter had not only impressed his teammates and fans, even Indian skipper Virat Kohli was found among his admirers by the end of that knock.
Kohli said after the match:
“He’s going to be a star. You can sense it, this guy is intelligent. He’s a great prospect for England and he’s definitely going to be a star in all forms.”
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Everything went downhill for Haseeb Hameed after the debut Test series
Haseeb Hameed burst onto the scene with a bang as a 19-year-old rookie. He amassed over 1000 runs in his debut season with his home club, Lancashire, in his debut season in 2016. Hameed hit seven fifties and four centuries in the 16 matches that he played that season. The prolific run with the bat earned him a Test call-up during England’s tour of India in the same year.
But after such an impressive debut Test series in 2016, we haven’t heard much about Haseeb Hameed, have we? A series of injuries and a slump in form meant that Hameed was more or less out of the picture for quite a while.
He had to travel back from India after the first three Tests of the five-match series due to that dreadful injury. He broke his finger again within a year, which meant a third surgery in quick succession and months of rehabilitation. All this led to the loss of game time at a period when Hameed was in peak form.
The batting average inthe second season with Lancashire had already come down to 28 from that momentous debut season. The second season is almost always the toughest with the expectation to replicate success. The fans wanted to attribute this slump in form to such a scenario. However, the 2018 season that followed was nothing short of a nightmare.
Haseeb Hameed seemed to have lost all his touch, struggling to survive at the crease. Many pundits blamed his involvement with the limited-overs squad of Lancashire for this slump in form. Hameed, who had an air-tight technique, had started getting out to loose shots outside the off-stump. He left far fewer deliveries than he initially used to.
In the end, Hameed averaged a paltry 9.7 across 10 matches that season without even a single half-century in 2018. Few were surprised when he was dropped from the playing XI by the end of that season. From the point where he was looked upon as the successor to England’s opening slot, Hameed was struggling to maintain his position in his county side.
This horrible run of form prompted the Director of Lancashire Cricket, Paul Allot, to wonder if they had given far too many opportunities to the batter than he deserved. He said:
“He is a dilemma for us – we gave him more opportunity, probably, than he deserved. Far too many games probably. Where his form and function have disappeared to is a complete and utter mystery to us.”
After another subpar season in 2019, Lancashire decided not to renew their contract with Haseeb Hameed.
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A new beginning with Nottinghamshire
Haseeb Hameed’s career with Lancashire started when he joined their Under-11 side as a nine-year-old. He was open to admitting that being let go by his home club was tough, but the hope for a new beginning were always present. Hameed told The Guardian:
“Being let go by my home club was tough. But in those tough moments I have been lucky to find something deep inside me that doesn’t let me give up and urges me to try one more time.”
Nottinghamshire signed a two-year deal with Haseeb Hameed at the end of the 2019 season. This was the start of a turnaround for the young Englishman.
Hameed made some tweaks to his technique. The main intention was to go back to the basics that helped him have a breakout season in 2016. But more importantly, in the opinion of Nottinghamshire head coach Peter Moores, Hameed has started to enjoy his game once again. Moores told Cricinfo:
“Has played beautifully last week. He's really grown his game, I think. He got to a place where he was surviving as a player: trying not to get out and block the new ball, but he's now someone who is a lovely player to watch with a lovely flow to him.”
The performances got better and Haseeb Hameed ended up averaging 39 in the truncated 2020 season. This included three half-centuries, but the three-figure mark has continued to elude him ever since that debut season.
The completion of a full circle for Haseeb Hameed
If we plot the graph of Haseeb Hameed’s batting average over the past six seasons, it will form an exact ‘V’ shape. After highs of 2016 and lows of 2018, Hameed has once again found his top form in the 2021 season.
At the beginning of the year, the 24-year-old was entrusted with a new responsibility. Nottinghamshire appointed him as the vice-captain of their side. It was a clear sign that his club were keeping faith in the youngster. And that belief did pay off.
Runs flowed from the bat of Haseeb Hameed once again in the 2021 season. The knock of 111 against Worcestershire was his first century in over five years in first-class cricket. Hameed has gone on to amass 642 runs from nine matches at an average of 46 so far. This includes four half-centuries and two centuries.
The prolific run of form earned him a place in the England squad against New Zealand. Though he did not get an opportunity to don the batting gloves in that series, he was selected in the County Select XI to face the touring Indian side. Haseeb Hameed scored a century against the Indian attack in that tour game, while the next highest score in the side was 33.
When England's selectors announced their 17-men squad to face India, Haseeb Hameed has once again found a place there. Life seems to have come full circle for him since he toured India as a 19-year-old.
The expectations would once again be high. Paul Allot said back in 2018 that he had “not seen a more talented young opening batsman in my 40-odd years in the game”. It is probably time for the world to witness the talent bloom into performances.
It has taken the efforts of a dad who was obsessed with his son’s career as a professional cricketer right from his childhood and an elder brother who had to forego his own dreams of becoming a cricketer for Haseeb Hameed to get to this level. Now, it is not just his family but the whole cricketing fraternity that is waiting to see his batting prowess on display.
Will we witness that during the series against India? Only time will tell. But Haseeb Hameed is certainly here to stay.
