We are delighted to present an interview with former Pakistan wicket keeper Mohammad Salman. Salman was of course the wicket keeper on Pakistan's recent tour of the Caribbean where he impressed everyone with his wonderful glovework on some extremely testing pitches. The 30 year old wicketkeeper has a wealth of experience in first class cricket with nearly 3600 runs in 105 first class matches.

by Saj Sadiq (10th May 2011)

PakPassion.net: Salman, you've played a lot of cricket at various levels in Pakistan. Tell us how you initially got into cricket? 

Mohammad Salman: I started off playing at the under-14 level and then went on to Under-16 cricket. After my performances at that level I was given the chance to play inter-provincial Under-16 cricket. That was followed up by playing in the Under-19s set-up at district level and then moving onto the Under-19 regional level. After Under-19 cricket I went on to play grade II cricket, starting off with the regional level and then moving to the departmental level. I finally got to play first class cricket after three years. 


PakPassion.net: You were born in Karachi but have played most of your cricket in Faisalabad. Where did you play your junior cricket?

Mohammad Salman: I played my Under-15 cricket for Sindh and was living there until the death of my mother in 1997. At that time the situation in Karachi wasn't so great and my father and family was always concerned about my well-being. My father had moved to Karachi in the 1960s but most of his family still resided in Faisalabad. So my father decided to send me to Faisalabad and I started living with my father's younger brother. I ended up playing my under-16 cricket in Faisalabad and then under-19 cricket. 


PakPassion.net: Pakistan have had some excellent wicket-keepers in the past. The likes of Wasim Bari, Rashid Latif, and Moin Khan were great behind the stumps. Growing up in Pakistan, who was the wicket-keeper that you most emulated?

Mohammad Salman: I always followed and watched a bit of Salim Yousuf. Then for most of my career I've watched and played with Rashid Latif who had a great influence on me. And then obviously the great Australian wicket keeper Adam Gilchrist. 


PakPassion.net: Most young boys grow up wanting to be a batsman, a bowler, or an all-rounder but you became a wicket-keeper. When did you realize that you wanted to be a wicket-keeper?

Mohammad Salman: I've been playing league cricket in England and Ireland for the past 10 years and I hardly keep wicket there. I've always enjoyed bowling and I get a chance to bowl a lot of leg-spin in league cricket, as well as batting at the top of the order. 

Becoming a wicket-keeper was more out of circumstances than it was by choice. In my under-14 team we really didn't have a wicket-keeper so I started keeping for the team as I had pretty good hands. I started enjoying being the wicket-keeper and started working really hard to improve my game behind the stumps and improved day by day.


PakPassion.net: Some people say that wicket-keepers are born naturally with attributes, such as soft hands and athleticism, that can't be taught. Would you describe yourself to be a natural wicket-keeper or someone who has been somewhat manufactured into a wicket-keeper?

Mohammad Salman: I think I've always been a natural wicket-keeper because I've always had a great pair of hands and have been comfortable at that position. I've also worked hard on improving my game and followed the likes of Rashid Latif and Jeffrey Dujon and those type of keepers who had great pair of hands and they made wicket-keeping look so easy. 

Obviously that influence came into my wicket-keeping and was shown by my keeping in the West Indies. I received a lot of positive comments about my keeping during the tour of the West Indies, that it was very fluent and I showed soft hands. I think it is very important for the wicket-keeper to be natural and acrobatic.


PakPassion.net: You mentioned Rashid Latif and Salim Yousuf as the two Pakistani keepers that have influenced you. Who in your opinion was Pakistan's greatest wicket-keeper?

Mohammad Salman: Rashid Latif was Pakistan's best wicketkeeper - without any doubts.


PakPassion.net: What do you think made Rashid Latif such a great wicketkeeper? What were his greatest strengths and skills that made him the best?

Mohammad Salman: Ask the cricketing world and they will tell you. His greatest strength as a keeper had to be his great hands. Even the great Ian Healy once stated that Rashid Latif had the softest pair of hands behind the stumps. You can ask people all around the world who have seen Rashid Latif and they'll tell you that he's amongst the best keepers in cricket. Another Pakistani keeper that I've always admired is Moin Khan. Moin wasn't as naturally talented as Rashid Latif but he was an extremely hard worker. He made himself into an excellent keeper with hard work even though he was lacking some natural talent. 

Rashid and Moin were completely different but both were very effective behind the stumps for 12-15 years for Pakistan. They showed us how important the position of a wicket-keeper really is. 


PakPassion.net: Wicket-keeping is an extremely tough job, as I found out keeping wicket once for my club team. I did it only for one match and vowed never to do it again. It's an extremely tasking position and drains a lot out of you. What is the most difficult aspect of wicket-keeping in your opinion? 

Mohammad Salman: I'd say that the hardest part of wicket-keeping is being behind the stumps when a good spinner is bowling on a turning track. You often see great wicket-keepers struggle in the sub continent when the ball is turning. It's extremely tough when the ball is turning on a deteriorating track. 


PakPassion.net: You made your international debut relatively late in your career. What was your reaction to finally being selected for the national team? It must have been a great moment for you and your family? 

Mohammad Salman: It has been actually. It was a long wait but it was definitely worth it. I never wanted to rush in to international cricket and do a poor job. I wanted to make my debut when I was physically and mentally prepared so I could do well for the team. I'm not the kind of person who dreams of a ten or fifteen year career as an international cricketer. I wanted to give the best 3-5 years of my career to the team. 

Playing international cricket for your nation is the highest honour you can achieve as a cricketer. I don't think you should play at that level unless you?re ready to do your job well. Nowadays people look at a young cricketer making his international debut and have very low expectations from him because of the inexperience. I don't think that should be the case. You should only get selected to the national team when you're completely ready. 

International cricket is not an academy where you can work out your mistakes. At that level you are representing your country and should do your job well. People pay a lot of money to watch international cricket and they expect to see professionals doing their job well. They don't come to see people making mistakes because they don't belong at that level. 


PakPassion.net: Your wicket-keeping during your stint with Pakistani team was excellent but your batting let you down. I've seen you bat before and know for a fact that you are a better batsman than how you performed during the West Indies tour. Were you disappointed at your performances with the bat in international cricket?

Mohammad Salman: I had come into the team off a solid season with the bat at the first class level. I'd scored three first class hundreds and a hundred in T20s during that season, so I was in pretty good form with the bat at the time. I don't think my batting stats at international level tell the complete story. I played only 7 ODIs for Pakistan and got to bat in only 3 of them. 

In the first Twenty20 game I was feeling the ball in the middle but then I was run out. Then I didn't get a chance to bat in the next two games and the next match there was a bit of confusion and I got out to Bishoo, and in my third match I got run out again and in the final innings I made 19 runs and remained not out. Those were my One Day International stats. 

When the Test series came around, I found myself changing my approach after each innings. Naturally, I'm an aggressive player and didn't know if I should try to be aggressive during the Test matches. After I got out I took a more defensive approach in the next match. That also didn't go too well. Following my early struggles I started feeling the pressure and was somewhat confused. 

The tracks we played on were bowler friendly tracks and even the more experienced players were struggling to get runs there. I'd say I made some mental mistakes as a batsman at the international level. I blame myself for not being able to adapt to the demands of international cricket.


PakPassion.net: Recently I did an interview with Saeed Ajmal when he was in England at Worcestershire and he praised you a great deal. He said your wicket-keeping was excellent in the West Indies on very difficult tracks. You seemed to read his variations very easily?

Mohammad Salman: I was greatly influenced by the great wicket-keepers of Pakistan, I've learnt from them, but the guy whose name I have to mention, he's no wicket-keeper, but especially for what he's done on the tour, Aaqib Javed. He said to me from day one 'try to make wicket-keeping look easy, don?t think about it too much, just watch the ball and collect, just concentrate on the simple things and don't try to do extraordinary things.' That was unbelievably good advice he gave me and it helped me a lot throughout the tour and after the tour even. 


PakPassion.net: Who is the most difficult bowler that you have kept wicket to? Saeed Ajmal has a lot of variations, but have there been any fast bowlers or spinners you have found difficult to wicket-keep to?

Mohammad Salman: I think not now, because I'm mature enough now and have played enough cricket. I can adjust quickly usually because I've played so much cricket and my confidence level is very high and I've worked hard on my game all the time. I've played enough cricket, and I've adjusted very well with my experience so I don't have that problem any more. It could have been a great problem if I started very early in my early or mid-twenties because wicket-keeping is like batting, it doesn't develop in a day - it takes a long time. 

As you see, Gilchrist only played six or seven years ? but the way he served his nation, he served cricket unbelievably well, a remarkable record he made. He came into international cricket when he was nearly 29, he was mature enough to perform well and show the world what he's got. 


PakPassion.net: Domestic cricket in Pakistan, it's of a fairly decent standard. Do you think domestic cricket in Pakistan, say the Quaid-e-Azam Tophy and the one-day tournament gets cricketers in Pakistan mentally and physically ready for international cricket? 

Mohammad Salman: If you ask me honestly, if you talk about the pressure, it's not that much pressure apart from the pressure to keep your place in the team. The standard of cricket is very high, to be honest it's very close. I've watched a lot of English county cricket and Indian first-class cricket and some other nations' first-class cricket, but the only first-class cricket that is inspiring is Australian and Pakistani ? it's very very hard and attractive cricket. 

In fact Pakistan first-class cricket is going downhill a bit, but it's still a strong set-up. The only problem we have is we should have more televised games and have more people come to the ground, to create that atmosphere. We don't have that atmosphere - we have the talent, we have the strength, but we don't have the atmosphere close to international level.

In Twenty20, a lot of people come down to watch, which builds the players' mentality and approach towards the games, but in first class we don't get a lot of people who watch or too many televised games which we need to improve our first-class cricket.


PakPassion.net: How can the Pakistan Cricket Board get more people into the grounds for four-day cricket? How can they market it better to get families and children in to watch four-day cricket? 

Mohammad Salman: It's about timing as well. There is a recession all over the world, people don't have money, don't have the time, they are worried about their families and their house and food. The timings are very odd. The matches start at ten o'clock in the morning and finish about five in the evening. That is actual working hours anywhere in the world, especially in our side of the world. 

So we should think about it and introduce something new, something like starting at two or three o'clock and go up until late evening so people can come down to watch on evenings and weekends. It might be that idea can work, you never know ? at the moment we are playing orthodox cricket and we have to change it to bring more people into the stadia and to attract bigger crowds and generate more interest.


PakPassion.net: It's a very interesting idea. Kent played a four-day game as a day-night match recently so maybe that's an idea the PCB can look at? 

Mohammad Salman: Yes, I think it's a very good idea. Also, the 4 day matches should start on a Friday or Saturday, rather than any day of the week. 

We should have a plan and rather than having a start date any day of the week, games should start on a Friday or Saturday meaning that more crowds could come into the grounds. It can bring more people in and get more people interested towards cricket and come and watch the games.


PakPassion.net: You have a lot of experience in domestic cricket, you have played for a long time. What about young up-and-coming cricketers, any young wicket-keepers, batsmen, bowlers who have impressed you that we may not yet know about but could be future stars for Pakistan? 

Mohammad Salman: A lot of players. There's some amazing talent in Pakistan but actually, at the minute I am also playing so I'm not the right person to ask that question! If you ask question to the great players who have played, who have served their country for so long, they are still around and they're the right people who can judge someone's ability and talent, rather than me playing cricket at the minute. I know I like a lot of players, but I don't want to mention anybody's name at the minute, because I'm not the right judge!


PakPassion.net: Mohammad Hafeez is someone you know very well. You've played a lot of cricket with him. Recently on the Zimbabwe tour he performed well and has really improved and is playing well for Pakistan. What changes have you seen in Hafeez? He himself said mentally he is much stronger ? what changes have you seen in him over the last six months or a year?

Mohammad Salman: It's a maturity thing. He's been there long enough and worked really really hard towards his game. That's a very important point ? I've known him for the last ten years and I think he works really really hard at his game. He's very focused and very positive. He's always been a great talent but I think the mature thing is a different point now, he's very mature now and he's played enough cricket and developed himself as one of the best Pakistan opening batsmen. 


PakPassion.net: What is the future for Mohammad Salman? Your plans, your dreams to get back into the Pakistan team? 

Mohammad Salman: My hopes are always positive and to always stay positive. I never give up and Insha?Allah (God Willing) I will come back very soon. Insha?Allah (God Willing) I will work hard and I always believe I can come back with good performances in the upcoming season in Pakistan.


PakPassion.net: Do you think we'll see Mohammad Salman playing for Pakistan in the future? 

Mohammad Salman: My main focus is to do well in first class cricket, perform well there and then we can take it from there. It's an honour to be a first class cricketer and it is a job that children all over the world dream of doing, but don't get that opportunity to do. So I am thankful that I am playing first class cricket on a regular basis and my aim is to do well in the upcoming domestic season. Yes I have a desire to play for my country again as any cricketer would, but I prefer to take things step by step and we'll see after that.