<img title="Yasir Jan in Lahore Qalandars&rsquo; colours, bowls in a practice session of the Pakistan Premier League in Lahore recently. PIC/AFP" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/oct/21yasir-jan.jpg" alt="Yasir Jan in Lahore Qalandars&rsquo; colours, bowls in a practice session of the Pakistan Premier League in Lahore recently. PIC/AFP" /> Yasir Jan in Lahore Qalandars&rsquo; colours, bowls in a practice session of the Pakistan Premier League in Lahore recently. PIC/AFP
Lahore: A green-grocer&rsquo;s son who can bowl at pace with either arm is causing excitement in Pakistan as he targets a spot on the national team. Yasir Jan, 21, can generate around 145 kilometres (90 miles) per hour with his right arm and 135 kph with his left, making him a unique talent.
Even in a country with a history of cricket innovations, such as the reverse sweep and reverse swing, Jan has set tongues wagging.
&ldquo;Yasir has been an amazing talent,&rdquo; said his coach Muhammad Salman, tipping him as a definite prospect for the Pakistan Super League&rsquo;s Lahore Qalandars&rsquo; team which has snapped him up on a 10-year-contract.
By swapping arms, a bowler can vary more greatly the angle of his delivery and adapt tactics depending on whether he is facing a right or left-handed batsman.
&ldquo;It is an advantage. As a captain when you have right-handed and left-handed batsmen batting then you have a luxury to have a bowler who can bowl with both,&rdquo; said Salman, a former Pakistan batsman.
Total freedom &ldquo;There are no restrictions that a bowler can bowl with two hands in an over.&rdquo; Jan&rsquo;s talent was uncovered in a Rawalpindi U-19 match, when the batting side was running away with the game and his captain turned to him and made an unusual request.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re already going down. Why don&rsquo;t you bowl left-handed?&rdquo; Jan, now 21, recalls his captain saying.
Shocking his opponents After a barren opening spell as a right-armer, he made the switch and shocked the opposition en route to his first four-for. &ldquo;The coaches were also shocked. They said, &lsquo;What&rsquo;s this kid doing?!&rdquo; he recalls.
His special skill then hit the headlines during a talent hunt for the Lahore Qalandars conducted by former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed. Jan&rsquo;s chest-on action emulates his current idol, South Africa&rsquo;s Dale Steyn, but he said he was inspired by Pakistan&rsquo;s former right-arm, left-arm pace attack of Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been bowling with both arms since I was a kid,&rdquo; he said.
Following the greats &ldquo;Waqar bhai and Wasim bhai were bowling in 2003 when I saw my first World Cup. I really liked watching them... I&rsquo;d copy them. And I kept working and working at it and I got good. And it&rsquo;s helped me get picked.&rdquo; Jan is the latest in a proud line of Pakistani innovators &mdash; from Hanif Mohammad, who invented the reverse-sweep, to Imran Khan and Sarfraz Nawaz who were the first to unveil the dark arts of &lsquo;reverse swing&rsquo;.

Green-grocer&rsquo;s 21-year-old son who can bowl around 145 kph with his right arm and 135 kph with his left&nbsp;is causing excitement in Pakistan as he targets a spot on the national team

Pakistan's ambidextrous fast bowler Yasir Jan the new sensation!

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Home / Sports / Cricket / Article / Pakistan's ambidextrous fast bowler Yasir Jan the new sensation!

Pakistan's ambidextrous fast bowler Yasir Jan the new sensation!

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