KARACHI: Karachi Kings couldn’t make the most of the electric support they received from the fans at the National Stadium during their Pakistan Super League (PSL) eliminator against defending champions Islamabad United on Thursday night. However, to think they took nothing away from the fourth edition of the league, would be plain wrong.

The boisterous 30,000-plus crowd at the venue was chanting the name of a 19-year-old kid while he outsmarted seasoned United batsmen. Umer Khan, King’s left-arm spinner, ended with figures of 2-16 in his quota of four overs.

It was special. Finding Chadwick Walton’s outside edge was special. Forcing Cameron Delport — who had scored a blistering century in his previous outing — to drag it out for Babar Azam to catch him at long-on — was certainly special.

The wickets Umer took don’t represent his success, though. One of the best attacking openers in the world, Alex Hales, had to limit his flamboyance when the teenager had the ball. United did win in the end. But had Umer not been in the Kings’ line-up, it would have been easier for the former.

“In my view the best emerging player [in the PSL] is Umer Khan,” Kings captain Imad Wasim said during the post-match press conference.

“The vision, mentality and skill level he has is something rare nowadays in young cricketers. We all think he is going to serve Pakistan for a long time in the future.”

The eliminator was not the first match Umer has caused havoc in. The Rawalpindi-born cricketer has dismissed Umar Akmal, Rilee Roussow, Shane Watson (twice), Dan Christian, Shoaib Malik, James Vince, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi Hussain Talat, Sohail Akhtar, A.B. de Villiers and Shan Masood other than Delport and Walton in his PSL 4 campaign.

Imad, who is a left-arm spinner himself, said it was great to have Umer to stand out as the only spinner among the players who have emerged from the on-going edition, with most being fast-bowlers.

“We find good fast bowlers in every PSL season but Umer’s discovery, for a change is a positive thing and Pakistan may find a very good spinner in him,” said the all-rounder.

Pakistan and Kings’ head coach Mickey Arthur had recently told Dawn he had spotted six to seven players who are already being considered as future national side players. Umer, with 15 wickets at an economy of 7.11 in the PSL, must be one of those.

However, Tauseef Ahmed, a former Pakistan off-spinner and currently one of the members of the national selection committee, thinks Umer needs to be given more time.

“Mickey might have spotted him, but Umer will have to go through the process,” Tauseef told Dawn on Friday.

Tauseef was not cautious with his praise for the youngster. The former Test player acknowledged Umer’s show in the PSL was exceptional.

“The special thing about Umer is that his performances have been consistent. He has not done it once or twice, he has taken big wickets throughout the tournament,” the selector said. “His body language at this age and against such star batsmen is commendable.”

With the Pakistan Cup — a top domestic List A tournament — set to be held in Rawalpindi next month, Umer’s skills will be put to test in the 50-over format and in the four-day format during the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy later this year.

“Umer will be there in the Pakistan Cup and I’m sure he will feature in first-class cricket too,” Tauseef said.

“The selectors are definitely looking at him. He has proven his skills in the shortest format and we’ll further monitor him in the List A and first-class formats.”

Tauseef said Umer is one of those cricketers the selectors don’t want to see vanishing like so many other players who fade away from the scene after showing promise.

“Pakistan do need a left-arm spinner and Umer has those skills. We will give him time to grow before bringing him on the top. We don’t want to see him vanish,” said Tauseef.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2019