Ihsanullah (born 11 October 2002) is a Pakistani

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er who plays as a right-arm fast bowler. Nicknamed the ''Matta Express'', he is one of the fastest bowlers in the current Pakistan cricket team.

Early career

Ihsanullah was born in the Arkot village, situated in the

Swat Valley Swat District (, ps, سوات ولسوالۍ, ) is a district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. With a population of 2,309,570 per the 2017 national census, Swat is the 15th-largest district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pro ...

Matta Tehsil Matta ( ps, مټه) is an administrative subdivision (Tehsil) of Swat District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. District Swat has 7 Tehsils i.e. Tehsil Matta, Tehsil Babuzai, Tehsil Khwaza Khela, Tehsil Barikot, Tehsil Kabal, ...

, losing his home during the 2022 floods, while he began his professional cricket career in 2017, playing for FATA Under-16, in 2018 taking part in PCB's U-16 Pentangular T20 Tournament.

Domestic and franchise career

In January 2022, Ihsanullah made his

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have ...

debut, after being named as one of the local players for Multan Sultans in the draft for the 2022 PSL. In September 2022, he made his first-class debut for

Khyber Paktunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa i ...

, becoming the team's highest wicket-tacker for the

Quaid-e-Azam Trophy The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is a domestic first-class cricket competition in Pakistan. With few exceptions, it has been staged annually since it was first played during the 1953–54 season. Domestic cricket in Pakistan has undergone many reorganis ...

in the 2022-23 season while also being the second highest wicket-taker in the Pakistan ODI Cup for 2022-23. In February 2023, he was noticed for delivering the second best spell of the

Pakistan Super League The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league contested during February and March of every year by six teams representing six cities of Pakistan. The league was founded on 9 September 2015 with five teams by the Paki ...

with a figures of 5-12 against

Quetta Gladiators Quetta Gladiators (Urdu, Balochi: ; Pashto: کویټه ګلیډیټرز) is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 cricket franchise that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). They play most home games at the 27,000-capacity Gaddafi Stadium. ...

, while playing for Multan Sultans for the 2023 PSL. His spell is also considered the fastest in PSL's history, with an average speed of 144.37 kph and a delivery going over 154.5 kph, surpassing

Haris Rauf Haris Rauf (Urdu: حارث رؤف; born 7 November 1993) is a Pakistani cricketer. He made his international debut for the Pakistan cricket team in January 2020. He made his Twenty20 debut for the Lahore Qalandars in the 2018 Abu Dhabi T20 Troph ...

's spell against

Peshawar Zalmi Peshawar Zalmi ( ur, ; ps, پېښور زلمي; literally meaning "Peshawar's youth") is a Pakistani franchise T20 cricket team which plays in the Pakistan Super League and represents Peshawar, the capital city of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pro ...

during the 2022 PSL, when his average speed was 144.16 kph. In March 2023, at the end of the 2023 PSL, he won both the ''HBL PSL 8 Player of the Tournament'' award as well the ''Bowler of HBL PSL 8'' award, for his 22 wickets at an economy-rate of 7.59.

International career

In December 2022, alongside batsmen

Saim Ayub Saim Ayub (born 24 May 2002) is a Pakistani cricketer who plays for Pakistan national cricket team and for Karachi Whites in domestic cricket. He made his international debut in T20 against Afghanistan on 24 March 2023 and made his test debut vs ...

and

Haseebullah Khan Haseebullah Khan (Urdu: ) (born 4 April 2004) is a Pakistani cricketer who plays for Balochistan. Early life Born in Pishin, a city around 50 kilometers away from Balochistan’s provincial capital Quetta, Haseebullah belongs to a cricketing f ...

, Ihsanullah was one of the three youngsters selected to be included in the national squad for the second Test match of the New Zealand series in Karachi, so they could get some international exposure and see the dynamics of the dressing room. In March 2023, he was named in Pakistan's

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

(T20I) squad for the series against Afghanistan. He made his T20I debut in the first T20I of the series, on 24 March 2023. In the match, he took a wicket with his first delivery. In April 2023, he was named in Pakistan's

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World Cup ...

(ODI) squad for the series against New Zealand. He made his ODI debut in the second ODI of the series, on 29 April 2023.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ihsanullah 2002 births Living people Pakistani cricketers Multan Sultans cricketers People from Swat District Cricketers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa