Hassan Azad is a 26 year old left handed top order batsman who was the leading run scorer in division 2 of the county championship in 2019. During his breakthrough season last year Hassan scored 3 centuries and 8 half centuries in 26 county championship innings for Leicestershire.
He was a born in Pakistan and has even represented Pakistan Under-15s in a team that had Babar Azam captaining during an “Under-15 World Cup” event in the West Indies in 2008, but now he is very much English qualified. Away from Cricket, Hassan has a chemical engineering degree from Loughborough which he completed in 2019.
Over the winter Hassan has been playing club cricket in Auckland. In terms of playing style, Hassan has developed a positive reputation for being able to occupy the crease to wear down the opposing attacks, absorb pressure, battle for his runs and blunt the new ball. Displaying old school virtues, Hassan plays the role of a run accumulator and good old fashioned grinder who is prepared to be patient and defensive without it fazing him. In the field, Hassan is somewhat of a specialist close in fielder. Despite his success in red ball cricket, Azad has aspirations to feature in white ball cricket for his county too in the coming seasons.
Video Interview (Better Sound After 1.25 mins)
Audio Interview Only (Better Sound After 2 mins)
Minor correction – Azad was born in Quetta and not Karachi as his Wikipedia page stated
The game vs Gloucestershire where Hassan made a century in each innings in June:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/ECKO44881
The match vs Sussex at Hove which Hassan regards as his top cricketing memory so far as it gave him the confidence and belief that he could deliver as a county professional and it also contributed in a victorious result for his team away from home:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/ECKO44819
A scorecard of Hassan representing Pakistan U15s in 2008
Hassan’s stats in New Zealand club cricket in the 2019-20 season:
https://www.crichq.com/clubs/36865/leaderboards/mvp
A resolute batting performance from Azad in 2018 which made Leicestershire Coach Paul Nixon stand up and take notice of Hassan when he grafted his way to a gutsy 48 playing for Loughborough MCCU against Leicestershire:
Leicestershire may have finished bottom of the table last year, but Azad topped the table for runs
Other recommendable articles on Hassan Azad:
Cricinfo
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/28105734/go-session-scoring-run-win-me
The Times
PakPassion
Hassan Azad reenacting the first ball of the season on Sunday 12th April with his family
Hassan’s father (bowling in the video) Imran is also a former first class cricketer:
https://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan/content/player/40746.html
Footage of Azad Batting
A Famous Pakistan Cricket Writer Osman Samiuddin Impressed by Hassan Azad
Youtube version of Interview
Other Interviews Abdullah Haider has done:
Asif Iqbal on 29th October 2019: https://youtu.be/UtN48mg-_rc?t=3
Samit Patel on 3rd February 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqzZLOwpDIE
Jarrod Kimber on 26th September 2019: https://youtu.be/DhZUqEOYhFI?t=10
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