August 25, 2003	Monday	Jumadi-us-Sani 26

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KARACHI, Aug 24: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Sunday announced a handsome cash award of Rs500,000, to acknowledge Yasir Hameed’s record-breaking knocks in the first Test against Bangladesh.

Ramiz Raja, the PCB chief executive, made the announcement during the post-match ceremony in which he congratulated Yasir on behalf of PCB chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia.

“The PCB is proud of Yasir Hameed’s outstanding achievement in scoring century in each of the match on debut,” Ramiz said. “On behalf of the board’s chairman, we would like to honour him with a special cash award of Rs500,000.”

Yasir, named Man-of-the-Match, said he was happy to achieve the rare feat of scoring two hundreds in the same Test, but he was happier to have played a key role that helped win the match.

“Yes, I am thankful to Almighty Allah who blessed me with this record. But more important to me was that we won,” the 25-year-old said.

When asked whether Pakistan had found a solution to their top order problems, the new batting find stated that hopefully he would try to live upto the expectations in future games.

“Number three is a crucial position and there is added pressure of batting at this spot. But I can say this with confidence that I can be successful because the greater the pressure, the better I play,” Yasir, who made a pair on first-class debut seven years ago, declared. “My aim is to play for Pakistan for a long time.”

Pakistan coach Javed Miandad paid glowing tribute to Yasir when he said that he was a new superstar for Pakistan who was unaware of what he had achieved.

“It is beyond his imagination what he had achieved in his first Test,” Miandad told a post-match press conference. “He is a superstar for Pakistan and can play for a long time. But even he doesn’t know what a unique record he has equalled.”

Miandad, who himself enjoyed a great career during which he made 8832 run in 124 Tests and over 7,000 in more than 230 one-dayers, predicted a bright future for the young man since he believed that Pakistan has found a reliable batsman.

“Yasir can play for a long time and he shouldered the responsibility of being the main batsman,” the coach commented.