BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
Unheralded young cricket player from Zimbabwe Jeremiah Makanya has emerged at one of the top cricket academies in Pakistan, Paklions International, where he will be honing his skills until the end of the year.
The 18-year-old former St Georges College batting all-rounder represented the Chitungwiza-based club Gladiators in the National Premier League — an eight-team club competition, which was launched last year.
Makanya travelled to join the Lahore-based academy mid-June and is scheduled to stay for six months.
“Paklions is one of the best international cricket academies and any player would love to play in facilities like Paklions. To be honest, I am grateful for the opportunity,” Makanya told Social Pakistan in a wide-ranging interview recently.
“The coaches are good. They have been helping me a lot and I am learning new things and new techniques. I am sure that if I get three to six more months at this academy, getting practise like this, I am going to be a top professional in the near future,” he added.
Paklions International Cricket was established in 2009 by cricket enthusiast Nasar Iqbal with a mission to nurture young talent from Under-13 to Under-19.
It also aims to become the fostering ground for emerging talent in Pakistan, especially for talented boys who don’t have a platform to showcase their skills.
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The academy produced Pakistan teenage cricket star Naseem Shah as well as other international players such as Zia ul Haq and Muhammad Irfan.
“I chose to come to Pakistan because they are doing better in the cricket world. If you look at Babar Azam, he is one of the best cricketers’ players in the world, so everyone would wish to play cricket in Pakistan
“Cricket in Pakistan is very competitive and you can learn new things. It’s easy for you to go professional here because you play in hard conditions, which means you can improve your fitness.
“I would say Naseem Shah, one of the kids from the academy was the one who motivated me to come here because he is now playing international cricket at such a young age.
“The difference with Zimbabwe is that cricket is the main sport here, but in Zimbabwe you have to go to school first and play cricket after school.
“Here you can hear a five-year-old saying I am choosing a cricket career,” Makanya said.
The player from Chitungwiza also spoke about his cricket dreams, apart from playing on the international stage.
“Obviously, any player would dream to play the highest level of cricket as well as playing big tournaments like IPL and PSL. You know those big tournaments and it’s every child’s dream to play at that level and to play World 11 — obviously that is my dream as well,” he said.
Makanya was asked if he would consider switching allegiance to Pakistan in case the call comes.
“To be honest it’s a 50-50 situation. I might say yes or I might say no, but it depends on how my country is cooperating because I would not be happy to see Zimbabwe losing matches while I am playing for Pakistan.
“But it would be a good thing and I would really appreciate the chance because it’s an opportunity that everyone wishes for. Every child here wishes to play for Pakistan so I can’t really say I would say no but it’s a 70% chance that I would say yes,” he said.
While his strength is with the bat, Makanya is also a useful orthodox right arm spin bowler.
