For the current lot of cricket fans, the name Jalal-ud-Din may not ring a bell, but this yesteryear fast bowler from Pakistan will forever remain special in the history of the game.
After all, he was the first cricketer to claim a hat-trick in an ODI, against Australia in 1982, removing Rod Marsh, Bruce Yardley and Geoff Lawson. It’s been nearly forty-three years since, but Jalal-ud-Din still has vivid memories of that game.
“Initially, I was not selected for that match. Imran Khan was the captain, but he came late from England for this match, and he couldn’t acclimatise to the conditions in time so he withdrew from the match. Since I was part of the camp and had claimed a fifer in a side game against Australia, I was brought in,” Jalal-ud-Din told Sportstar.
Earlier that year, he was selected for Pakistan’s tour of England on the back of a notable domestic season and was set to feature in the Headingley Test, but an injury ruled him out. “So, when an opportunity came my way, I was determined to make the most of it. Before claiming the hat-trick, I got the prized wicket of Allan Border, so I had a match haul of four wickets, and I still remember every bit of that match, which was played at Hyderabad in the Sindh province,” he reminisced.
Even though his international career spanned only a little over three years, he claimed 25 wickets in 14 games across formats and went on to register 261 first-class wickets.
“The hat-trick is still very significant because it was the first hat-trick in the history of ODIs. No matter how hard a player tries, he can’t get a hat-trick, so it will always remain a special moment for me,” he said.
Now at 65, he is still giving it back to the game. While he shuttles between the US and Karachi these days, due to his coaching assignments, Jalal-ud-Din, who did his coaching levels in England and Australia, is currently developing the Helping Hand Sports Skill Development Project at Naya Nazimabad in Karachi to bring out more talents from the U-15 level.
“We have developed a U-15 programme for young cricketers in Karachi. It’s a long-term three-year programme, and I believe that we can produce more talent from Pakistan if we can work at the grassroots. Our kids have talent, but we need to develop them and ensure that they don’t struggle going forward. That’s why this programme will help us produce more cricketers,” he said.
Belonging to an era where T20 cricket was an alien term, Jalal-ud-Din believes that with the ever-evolving nature of the sport, it’s important to adapt to the changes, even though the ICC needs to regulate the mushrooming of franchise leagues.
“Now, things are changing in cricket, in terms of technology and perception. We need to go with the flow and adapt to the changes. It’s a reality that T20 is very important in today’s cricket because it’s viable in terms of economics and all the stakeholders are benefitting from it,” he said.
“But we need to control it and ensure that domestic cricket does not take the back seat because of the T20 franchise leagues. India does not have this problem, but elsewhere the ICC needs to regulate it,” the former cricketer said.
While he believes that Test cricket remains the ultimate form of the game, the fast bowler believes that going forward, there will be more innovations to the T20 format. However, he is all for a level playing field for the bowlers in the shorter format.
“The rules should give equal opportunity to the batters and the bowlers, but T20s have become more batter-friendly. With free hits and a cap of just four overs, things are challenging for the bowlers. Batters enjoy an upper hand, but going forward, there needs to be a level-playing field for all the players,” he said, adding that while T20s will thrive going forward, it will indeed be a challenge for ODI cricket to pass the test of times.