KARACHI: He came, he saw and he conquered is an old saying that aptly suits Zulfiqar Babar’s belated international debut when the seasoned spinner emerged as the least expected man-of-the-series during Pakistan’s winning the Twenty20 part of the West Indies tour last weekend.

Before the 34-year-old left-arm spinner arrived on the international arena those unfamiliar with Pakistan cricket often asked: Zulfiqar who? The first time they heard of this man was when he was picked for the Tewnty20 leg of the Sri Lanka tour a year ago.

Subsequently, Zulfiqar was retained in the Pakistan squad for the trips to India and South Africa but the debut still eluded him. Finally, the waiting game was over when he was included in the playing XI for the first of the two Twenty20 Internationals at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown (St Vincent’s).

“It was a moment I’ll always cherish for the rest of my life when I received the [first] cap from the team manager,” Zulfiqar recalled on Saturday while talking to Dawn in an exclusive interview. “How can one forget an occasion like that particularly after having to wait for this long to represent your country?”

Zulfiqar said it was a proud day for the people of Okara, who welcomed their favourite player in an exciting fashion on Wednesday, to savour the occasion because he is the first cricketer to play for Pakistan from this Punjab city which is also known as ‘mini Lahore’.

“The folks were very happy when they heard that I was in the playing XI and watched the entire game as well as the second match. Their joy was doubled when I was declared the man-of-the-series,” Zulfiqar said. “But whatever I have done is all because of the Almighty since without his blessing it would not have been possible. I’m extremely grateful to the Almighty for being very kind to me.”

Zulfiqar’s late coming as an international player — he is the second oldest T20 debutant for Pakistan after Inzamam-ul-Haq who was 36 years and 178 days on his debut in the shortest format against England in 2006 — maybe a drawback, but the man is totally unfazed.

“I always leave such matters in the hands of Allah. Perhaps, it was in my destiny to be playing for Pakistan at a time when people would be seriously considering other options in life,” he remarked in a philosophical tone.

“I’m not one of those who get desperate in such a situation. And since now I have played in one form of the sport, my goal is to appear both in One-day Internationals and Test matches. I’ll put in extra work to get this dream realised.”

One of the achievements that many people are unaware of is that Zulfiqar is one of those rare breed of cricketers to have captured all 10 wickets in an innings of a first-class match.

“Yeah it was a grand feat,” Zulfiqar, who made his debut in 2001-02, remembers about his stupendous effort of 10 for 143 against Islamabad for Multan in a Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship fixture in December 2009.

“The pitch at the Multan Cricket Stadium was a batting paradise and the bowlers were finding it difficult to get the purchase from the surface. But I kept bowling to a set pattern and was rewarded for persisting with my plans. One by one I got 10, that’s it!”

Zulfiqar believes that hard work always pays off and it was this belief which made him the latest hero of Pakistan cricket.

“I never shy away from putting in extra work because the desire is always there in me. I kept on playing season after season in the hope that some day the efforts that I’ve put in would be noticed and acknowledged in some way or the other,” Zulfiqar, son of former international footballer Abdul Ghaffar, emphasises.

“My father was a good football player who played one game for Pakistan. But he never forced me to play football because my passion was in cricket from an early age. My eldest son is five and has a keen interest in cricket, while my other son is only three now. But I’ll never put my children into a position when it comes to deciding their career.”