Saad Bin Zafar
Saad Bin Zafar (born 10 November 1986) is a Pakistan-born Canadian cricketer who plays for the Canada national cricket team. Zafar performs as an all rounder. He is a left-handed batsman who bowls Left-arm orthodox spin . Early career. At the age of 10, he started playing tape ball cricket with friends on the streets. Later at the age of 14 his school's sports teacher spotted Zafar and introduced him to Leather ball cricket by selecting him for junior school cricket team. In 2004, he started playing club cricket for Overseas Cricket club in  Premier Division. He scored 262 not out in a 50 over game in Scarborough Cricket League Premier Division in August 2015. Domestic and T20 franchise career. In January 2017, he played for the ICC Americas in the 2016–17 Regional Super50 and was the leading wicket taker for his team. In his 9 wickets that season, he was able to dismiss the likes of Shai Hope , Chadwick Walton , and Jermaine Blackwood . On 3 June 2018, he was selected to play for the Vancouver Knights in the players' draft for the 2018 Global T20 Canada|inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada tournament . Zafar was the second canadian player to be selected in the draft after Nikhil Dutta in round 9. In his third match against Montreal Tigers his bowling figure was 3/21 in 4 overs. He was able to take the wickets of Sikandar Raza , George Worker and Najibullah Zadran on duck. In his fifth match against Toronto Nationals he took 2/22 in 3.5 overs and scored unbeaten 12 in 47-run winning partnership with Chadwick Walton . In the final match of 2018 Global T20 Canada against West Indies B cricket team , he took 2 wickets including the wicket of Fabian Allen  by giving away 26 runs in 4 overs, also having a wicket maiden over. Vancouver Knights didn’t have an ideal start to the chase as Chadwick Walton , Chris Gayle and Ben Dunk fell cheaply to leave them at 22 for 3 but Zafar and Rassie van der Dussen came up with a crucial unbeaten 126-run partnership to get Knights back on track in the chase. Zafar played the role of an aggressor, dealing in regular boundaries to bring up a 32-ball fifty. He collected eight fours and three sixes in his unbeaten 48-ball stay for 79  runs. Zafar was adjudged man of the match for his brilliant all-round performance. In September 2018, he was called up as a replacement player of Bangladesh's allrounder Mahmudullah by St Kitts and Nevis Patriots for 2018 Caribbean Premier League|CPL playoffs . In June 2019, he was selected to play for the Vancouver Knights franchise team in the 2019 Global T20 Canada tournament. He had a successful tournament as he was the leading wicket-taker for the Vancouver Knights. In his 4th match against Edmonton Royals, his bowling figure was 2/34 in 4 overs, including the wicket of Shadab Khan  on a golden duck. In the Qualifier 1 against Brampton Wolves, Zafar was able to pick up 4 wickets by only giving 22 runs in 4 overs. He bowled exceptionally well in the 8th over in which he bagged 3 wickets by only giving 1 run which included the wicket of Shahid Afridi on a golden duck and the captain Colin Munro , who scored the fastest 50 of the tournament. His outstanding bowling spell got him the well-deserved man of the match award and led the Vancouver Knights into finals. In the final match against Winnipeg Hawks, he had  an 86-run 5th wicket partnership with Shoaib Malik and 53-run 6th wicket partnership with Andre Russell . Due to the high run rate requirement, Vancouver couldn’t find success chasing the 192 target set by the Hawks and loss in the super over. In July 2019, he was selected to play for the Amsterdam Knights in the 2019 Euro T20 Slam|inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam cricket tournament. However, the following month the tournament was cancelled. In December 2019, he was selected to play for the Falcon Hunters in the Qatar T10 League . Falcon Hunters were named Champions  for the 2019 Qatar T10 League|inaugural season by beating Swift Gallopers by 4 wickets. Zafar had a successful tournament just like his team by being the fifth leading wicket-taker of the season. In his six dismissals, he was able to collect key wickets of Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal . In July 2020, he was named in the St Lucia Zouks squad for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League . In September 2020, he was added to the Houston Hurricanes squad for the 2021 Minor League Cricket season. He was later traded to the Michigan Cricket Stars. He was the most economical  bowler for Michigan Cricket Stars with 5.7 economy rate and was able to pick up 14 wickets from 12 matches. International career. Zafar made his International debut on 4 July 2008 playing against Bermuda national cricket team|Bermuda . He looked impressive in his debut as he took 4 wickets, including the wicket of Bermuda's captain Irving Romaine who was close to scoring a century. In January 2010, he was named in Canada's squad for the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament in the United Arab Emirates. He made his T20 debut against UAE in the 9th match of the  tournament. In June 2015, he was named in Canada's squad for the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament hosted by Scotland and Ireland. He was the most economical bowler for Canada with 6.23 economy rate from 5 matches. In January 2018, he was named in Canada's squad for the 2018 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament. In August 2018, he was named in Canada's squad for the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Americas Qualifier tournament in Morrisville, North Carolina . In April 2019, he was named in Canada's squad for the 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division  Two tournament in Namibia. Even though Canada was not able to gain ODI status but he had a successful tournament by being the leading wicket-taker for Canada, with eleven dismissals in six matches. In August 2019, he was named in Canada's squad for the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier#Regional Finals|Regional Finals of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier tournament. He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut for Canada against the Cayman Islands national cricket team|Cayman Islands on 18 August 2019. In September 2019, he was named in Canada's squad for the 2019 Malaysia  Cricket World Cup Challenge League A tournament and was the most economical bowler for Canada with the economy rate of 3.50 from 5 matches. In October 2019, he was named in Canada's squad for the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament in the United Arab Emirates. He was the leading wicket-taker for Canada in the tournament, with nine dismissals in five matches. In October 2021, he was named in Canada's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier tournament in Antigua. On 14 November 2021, in Canada's match against Panama national  cricket team|Panama , Zafar became the first bowler to bowl four overs in a T20I match without conceding a run. In February 2022, he was named in Canada's squad for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Global Qualifier A tournament in Oman. External links. Category:Living people Category:1986 births Category:Canadian cricketers Category:Canada Twenty20 International cricketers Category:Cricketers from Gujranwala Category:Canadian sportspeople of Pakistani descent Category:St Kitts and Nevis Patriots cricketers Category:Pakistani emigrants to Canada Category:Naturalized citizens of Canada