Thirty years ago, in 1986, when the West Indies cricket team toured Pakistan, the scoreboard flaunted names such as Vivian Richards, Gordon Greenidge, Malcom Marshal, Imran Khan, Mohsin Khan, Javed Miandad and Abdul Qadir among others.

But somewhere among those celebrities was a young man, rather unknown and unheard of — Nasir Javed.

Javed, who hailed from Kabootarpura, Lahore, was a right arm leg-spinner. He played first-class cricket for Lahore City Whites in 1984-85 and for Service Industries in 1986-87.

The leggie did not get a chance to represent Pakistan in the series against West Indies; he was not even in the 15-man squad.

But Javed’s story did not end there. In fact, his love for the game grew deeper.

“How could I have made in the Pakistan national team in the presence of world’s best leg-spinner Abdul Qadir?” Javed says.

Despite the presence of a magician like Qadir, who is credited with reviving the dying art of leg-spin, Javed succeeded in leaving an imprint that the legendary Pakistan spinner would remember to this date.

The 49-year-old regrets the missed the opportunity but the pain of not making it to national side is quickly forgotten whenever Javed recalls his ‘proudest’ moment in cricket.

It came in a three-day match to warm-up the Windies side at the Zafar Ali Stadium in Sahiwal against Punjab Governor’s XI.

The Windies’ middle-order batsmen were all set to post a big total, with skipper Richards yet to come in to bat.

Javed came on to bowl and shocked the Windies line with two wickets in his very first over.

“I got two wickets in that over, Gus Logie’s wicket followed by the big one, Viv Richards for a duck,” recalls Javed with a hint of pride.

He ended up taking four wickets in that innings.

But it was Viv’s wicket that Javed believes got him instant attention. “I got famous overnight. Getting Viv’s wicket and that too on a duck changed my life,” he says.

Javed does not hesitate in admitting that it was actually all about the West Indian legend’s wicket.

“Viv’s wicket got me fame, got me money. People were so happy that when they came to meet me, they would give me a lot of money as a reward,” he says.

Following his performance in the first-class game, Javed got a national call up and was selected in the 25-man squad for the 1987 World Cup. But he never made it to the final playing XI as Qadir was too good to be replaced.

Praise from the magician

To try his luck, Javed decided to move to Australia and began playing cricket for Randwick Cricket Club in Sydney.

After a short stint Down Under, Javed made another switch in his career and decided to shift to the United States of America.

Frequent travelling did not dent his love for the game and in the US, he resumed playing club cricket and later went on to join the American cricket team.

“I was appointed as the assistant coach of the USA team. I also served under former Indian all-rounder Robin Singh while he was the head coach.

“But because of [Robin’s] IPL commitments, he had to leave and I was asked to take on the head coach’s responsibilities. I coached the US team during the ICC World T20 qualifier that took place in Ireland in 2015,” he says.

Qadir, now 60 years old, has not forgotten Javed.

“He was a good man from a humble background. I always thought he had good potential. I am happy to know that he has started coaching the US team,” he says.

Qadir says he also respected the younger man’s talent.

“Playing for an Australian club is a testimony to his cricketing abilities. I remember meeting Javed once and he told me that I had a role in making him a good leg-spinner,” says Qadir.

Financial worries

Despite being promoted as the head coach of the US national cricket team, Javed has to work at a store to make a better living.

“Everyone works here including the players. They do not have time to go and practice, they perform according to their set skills.

“This may seem strange but we do not have a choice.”

The reason: players and the coaching staff get limited money and “it is difficult to survive only on two to three thousand dollars”.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended the United States Cricket Association (USACA) in 2015, citing financial irregularities.

But as the world cricket’s governing body did not want to punish the players, the national team was allowed to participate in the ICC events.

The team continues to play, but with “a lot of financial constraints”.

Javed, however, is not ashamed to work in a store – even his regular customers who do not know much about the game admire his passion for cricket and believe that he can bring glory to the USA one day.

“Every time I come here he is talking about cricket. I often find him watching cricket on TV,” says one customer.

“It is [our] home team pride so we want it to win, it is nice that he works hard and hopefully he will bring home the championship,” says another.

Even after living in the US for many years, Javed still misses his motherland.

And what would he tell his boys if they were to play against Pakistan in the future?

Javed is quite clear on this count.

“I will tell them, ‘Show no mercy’.”