Awais Zia (; born 1 September 1986) is a Pakistani

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. He is primarily a left handed batsman and right arm

off spin Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right arm, right-handed spin bowling, spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal Delivery (cr ...

bowler.

Domestic and franchise career

As a youngster, Zia got introduced to the game playing

street cricket A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...

in his village of

Bhaun Bhaun ( ur, ) is a town in Chakwal District in the Punjab province of Pakistan 12 kilometres away from the district capital Chakwal. In 2007 Pakistan Railways Pakistan Railways ( ur, ) is the national, state-owned railway company of Pak ...

, before playing club cricket in

Chakwal Chakwal ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a city in Rawalpindi Division, Punjab province, Pakistan. It is the 66th largest city of Pakistan by population. Chakwal is located 90 kilometres south-west of the federal capital, Islamabad and 270 kilomet ...

. Zia was encouraged to attend local trials, where he came to the attention of

Jhelum Jhelum ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a city on the east bank of the Jhelum River, which is located in the district of Jhelum in the north of Punjab province, Pakistan. It is the 44th largest city of Pakistan by population. Jhelum is known for p ...

coaches, who offered him a place in the Jhelum team. He accepted their offer and started playing for Jhelum district and then Grade 2 cricket, before finally getting his chance in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for the

Rawalpindi cricket team Rawalpindi was a first-class cricket side that competed in domestic competitions in Pakistan. Rawalpindi's List A and Twenty20 sides were known as the Rawalpindi Rams. Honours * Patron's Trophy (1) * 1980-81 (not first-class in that season) * ...

in 2007. He met his number one fan named Abbas Ali Bohari. He has played 35 first-class and 19

list-A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

matches. He has also played 22

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

matches representing the

Rawalpindi Rams The Rawalpindi Rams (Urdu: راولپنڈی ریمز) was a domestic Twenty20 and List A cricket team, based in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. The team was established in 2004–05 and its home ground was the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. History ...

, who made it to the final of the Faysal Bank T-20 Cup in 2011 where Awais delivered a fitting start to their chase of 181 – it ended in a 10-run defeat, but Awais smashed 32 in just 13 balls while opening the batting. In April 2018, he was named in Federal Areas' squad for the

2018 Pakistan Cup The 2018 Pakistan Cup was the third edition of the Pakistan Cup, a List A cricket competition which was contested between five teams. It was held from 25 April to 6 May 2018, with all the matches played at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad. Federal ...

. He was the leading run-scorer for

Sui Southern Gas Company The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), () formerly known as Sui Gas Transmission Company Limited, is a Pakistani natural gas supply company based in Karachi, Pakistan. History It was formed in 1955. The company in its present shape was formed o ...

in the

2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam One Day Cup The 2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam One Day Cup was the first edition of the Quaid-e-Azam One Day Cup, a List A cricket tournament that took place in Pakistan from 6 September to 4 November 2018. Each match was played after the conclusion of the correspo ...

with 396 runs in seven matches. In March 2019, he was named in

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

's squad for the

2019 Pakistan Cup The 2019 Pakistan Cup was the fourth edition of the Pakistan Cup, a List A cricket competition which was contested between five teams. It was held from 2 to 12 April 2019, with all the matches played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The Pakis ...

. In October 2019, he was the leading run-scorer in the

2019–20 National T20 Cup The 2019–20 National T20 Cup was a Twenty20 domestic cricket competition that was played in Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan from 13 to 24 October 2019. Lahore Whites were the defending champions. It was the sixteenth season of the National T20 Cu ...

, with 276 runs in seven matches. In January 2021, he was named in Balochistan's squad for the

2020–21 Pakistan Cup The 2020–21 Pakistan Cup was a List A cricket competition that took place in Karachi, Pakistan from 8 January to 31 January 2021. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were the defending champions after they beat Baluchistan. However, after the new domestic stru ...

. In June 2021, he was selected to take part in the

Minor League Cricket Minor League Cricket (branded as the Toyota Minor League Cricket Championship presented by Sling TV for sponsorship reasons, and sometimes shortened to MiLC) is an American Twenty20 cricket developmental league for Major League Cricket which com ...

tournament in the United States following the players' draft.

International career

Awais Zia was selected for the

Pakistan national cricket team The Pakistan national cricket team or Pak cricket team, often referred to as the Shaheens (), Green Shirts, Men in Green and Cornered Tigers is administered by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The team is a Full Member of the International C ...

squad in the ODI and

T20I A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

series against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 2012. He played all three

matches against the

England cricket team The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. Engla ...

, scoring 47 runs with a best of 23. He had shown glimpses of the hitting ability that brought him to the attention of the national selectors.

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

went on to lose the series 1–2.

References

External links

*
Awais Zia – Official Facebook Account

"It's a Dream Come True" : Awais Zia
interview with Pakpassion {{DEFAULTSORT:Zia, Awais Living people 1986 births Pakistani cricketers Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers People from Chakwal District Punjabi people Khan Research Laboratories cricketers Rawalpindi cricketers Federal Areas cricketers Rawalpindi Rams cricketers Dhaka Dominators cricketers Federally Administered Tribal Areas cricketers Karachi Kings cricketers Sui Southern Gas Company cricketers