On April 21, 2019, Hafiz Mohammad Ghulam received a call from Jinnah Sports Cricket Club, the club he used to captain, for a practice game against Lodhran Cricket Club in Lodhran Cricket Stadium.
Initially, he was reluctant to go as he was tired after back-to-back matches. However, he was up for his duty and for the game he loved all his life.
During the match, the opponent batter hit an enormous six that went out of the ground. Ghulam’s teammate went to fetch the ball but he couldn’t find it so he decided to go and look for it himself. As he was searching for the ball, he was electrocuted by 11,000-WATT power lines.
Ghulam was unconscious for the next five days. When he regained his senses, he got to know that he had lost three toes of his right foot and his whole right side had become extremely weak. “I’m alive today because of the miracle of God as doctors had lost all hopes considering my critical condition,” he said while talking to Bol News. “It took me almost a year to recover.’’
The dreams of the then 19-year-old of representing Pakistan seemed shattered. Ghulam was a promising talent. He started his cricket journey at an age of 15 in 2015 as a right-arm fast bowler in his club in Bahawalpur.
He was impressive wherever he played and caught the attention of the selectors who picked him for the Bahawalpur U-16 side and was able to secure a spot in the Balochistan team in the Pakistan Cricket Board’s Future 11 tournament.
“It was a decent tournament for me and I had also received Man of the Match award for 3 wickets for 48 runs against Punjab in the event,” Gulam recalled.
The budding cricketer was rising to prominence for his fast bowling, despite the challenging financial situation at home.
His father had left them for his second wife and he was the sole breadwinner of the family. To make the ends meet, he worked at a restaurant as a waiter and continued his studies privately.
Though life wasn’t kind to him, he kept climbing the ladder and got selected for Bahawalpur’s U-19 team and was promoted as the captain of his club side. His career was on the right track before he met that unfortunate accident.
However, his passion for the game never faded away. He realised that he could no longer play as a right-arm pacer, so he decided to switch roles. “I decided to play as a batsman, first I practised in the nets to hone my batting skills and then I started playing local matches,” he stated.
Ghulam’s sheer dedication and determination earned him a place in Islamia University of Bahawalpur’s team for the HEC inter-university tournament.
The right-handed batter shined bright in the event, scoring 427 runs in just five matches with the help of two centuries and as many fifties. “My university got the third position in the tournament out of 75 universities in Pakistan. It earned me respect at the university as well as in the cricket fraternity,’’ he shared.
Although, the Bahawalpur-born cricketer was outperforming his contemporaries, he knew he could not play at the highest level with this body condition. Earlier this year, he was given an opportunity to play for Multan’s disabled team.
Ghulam played a practice match, but he was still hesitant to take up the opportunity. “Multan secretary made me realise that all sorts of cricket are equal and I will be able to represent Pakistan at the international stage, so I joined the Multan disabled team camp,” he shared.
Ghulam was surprised to see the passion for the sport among the differently-abled cricketers when he first attended the camp. He kept training with the Multan team and then finally the matchday arrived.
He was ready to prove his mettle and he did exactly that. The young cricketer, who was once a rising star in the regional cricket of Bahawalpur, announced his arrival in the disabled cricket with a 27-ball ton, the fastest century on record in the country.
Sargodha had set a modest target of 145 runs in their quota of 20 overs. Courtesy of Ghulam’s blistering 35-ball 125, Multan chased the target in merely 8.1 overs.
His inning comprised sixteen fours and four sixes. According to the Pakistan Disabled Cricket Association spokesperson Muhammad Nizam, it’s a national record in all kinds of cricket.
“I got to know about the feat after the match,” he revealed. “I always admired AB de Villiers and Shahid Afridi so I tried my best to replicate their performance on the field but I never knew that I could surpass their records of fastest centuries.”
As people came to know about Ghulam’s achievement, they came in numbers to congratulate him and his family.
“There was an announcement from my area’s mosque on the loudspeaker regarding my accomplishment,” he shared. “My friends and family were ecstatic to see the attention I was getting for my record.”
After seeing so many glorious and disappointing moments in his short career so far, his eyes are set on wearing the Star on his chest. “I have only one goal in mind, which is to give my best to get a place in Pakistan disabled team. I know it’s just the beginning of my career and I have plenty to do, but now I know where I want to be.”
