Waseem Ahmed Bhatti (also spelled Wasim; born 10 March 1978) is a Pakistani cricketer who has played cricket for the French national team. Before emigrating to France, he played two seasons of senior Pakistani domestic cricket for

Pakistan International Airlines Pakistan International Airlines, commonly known as PIA, is the flag carrier of Pakistan. With its primary hub at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, the airline also operates from its secondary hubs at Allama Iqbal International Airport ...

(PIA). A

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

, he has played regularly for the French national side since 2004, and captained the team for several years. Born in

Sialkot Sialkot (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 12th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined ...

, Bhatti first played at high levels during the 1997–98 season, when he turned out for

Sibi District Sibi (Urdu and ; ) is a Districts of Pakistan, district in the Balochistan (Pakistan), Balochistan province of Pakistan.Quaid-i-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 ...

. He made his first-class debut the following season, playing three

Patron's Trophy The President's Trophy (formerly Patron's Trophy) is a cricket competition that is held in Pakistan. It was previously held between 1960–61 and 2018–19 but was refounded from the 2023–24 season. It consists of teams representing the governm ...

matches for PIA in late 1998. On debut against

Pakistan Customs Pakistan Customs () is one of the cadres of the Civil Services of Pakistan. It is staffed by officers from the Pakistan Customs Service (PCS) which is one of the premier occupational groups among Pakistan's civil services. Pakistan’s Federal ...

he made what was to be his highest first-class score, 22 runs from 64 balls coming in ninth in the batting order. His maiden first-class dismissal was a stumping off the bowling of

Shoaib Malik Shoaib Malik ( Punjabi, (; born 1 February 1982) is a Pakistani cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team and currently plays for Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He was the captain of the Pakistan nati ...

, a future Pakistani international. Bhatti played only a single game for PIA during the 1999–2000 season, a

Quaid-i-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 ...

fixture against

Gujranwala Gujranwala is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fourth most-populous city in the Pakistani province of Punjab. Located in northern-central Punjab's Rachna Doab, it serves as the headquarters of its Gujranwala District, epony ...

. Although he took a catch and two stumpings in that match, Ahmed Zeeshan and Javed Qadeer were preferred as keeper for the rest of the season. Only 21 by the end of his last season in Pakistan, Bhatti reputedly "turned up in Paris in 2000 after failing to get a visa to play in England".(12 February 2015)
"Cricket fighting for fans in France as Australia gears up for World Cup opener"
– ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

''. Retrieved 25 April 2015. His first recorded matches for the French national side came in Belgium in 2004, in Division Two of the

European Cricket Championship The European Cricket Championship was a national team cricket tournament for the European countries associated with the International Cricket Council. The tournament was played as a league system, where the teams were split into divisions. The ...

.Miscellaneous matches played by Waseem Bhatti
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 April 2015. He led France's batting at that tournament, with a best of 69

not out In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...

against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, Bhatti did the same at the 2008 Division Two tournament, having been behind only Arun Ayyavooraju at the 2006 tournament. Bhatti took over France's captaincy at the 2008 tournament, replacing another Pakistani emigrant, Shabbir Hussain. At the 2013 European T20 Championship in England, by which time Bhatti had been replaced by Ayyavooraju as captain, he scored 196 runs from matches, more than any other French player. His best innings was 55 from 45 balls against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

.Belgium v France
European Championship Division One Twenty20 2013 (Group B) – CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 April 2015. Outside of playing, Bhatti has also been active in promoting cricket in French primary schools.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatti, Waseem 1978 births Living people French cricketers Pakistani cricketers Pakistani emigrants to France Pakistan International Airlines cricketers Cricketers from Sialkot French people of Punjabi descent Sportspeople of Pakistani descent Wicket-keepers