'Uncapped' Zakir doesn't want to give up on his dream of representing Pak

Pakistan uncapped player Asif Zakir, who is currently playing in the Lancashire League in England, is in no mood to give up on his dream of representing his country one day and is keen to continue working hard towards achieving this ultimate goal.

The 34-year-old has an impressive first-class record to his name, having finished the 2016-2017 edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy as the second highest run-getter with a total score of 853 runs at an excellent average of 85.3.

Zakir has played in a total of 130 first-class matches notching 7, 557 runs while he has also gathered 2,940 runs in 78 List-A matches he played.

Despite the same, Zakir is yet to earn a call-up in the national squad. The batsman came close to the selection in the Pakistan squad when he was named in the fitness camp in 2016 organised by the Pakistan Army for players who were later going to participate in the tour of England in the same year.

Not being selected in the national squad in 2016 came as a major setback for Zakir, but he decided not to give up and continue working hard to achieve the goal of representing Pakistan one day.

"I was very disappointed when my name was not mentioned for the England tour, but I decided to not give up and keep on working hard. I know that if not tomorrow, then my chance will come the day after and so on. My aim is to continue my efforts and God Willing, I feel I will get an opportunity in the future. I will never give up on my dream to play for Pakistan," Pakpassion.net quoted Zakir, as saying

Zakir though knew that he has to make much more efforts if he wants to get selected in the national squad, his commitment to the cause and his association with cricket is unwavering.

"I am definitely looking ahead to playing for Pakistan one day. I am working very hard and I will make any effort needed to achieve the goal of representing my country. Regardless of any setbacks that I may have faced up to now or hurdles that I may face ahead, my future is totally centred around being a cricketer and that is all I am focused on at the moment," he said while reiterating his desire to don green jersey.

Last year, the Karachi-born batsman failed to bring similar dividends in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, he is determined to use his maiden stint in the Lancashire League this year as a great learning experience.

"This is my first stint in the Lancashire League where I am representing Burnley. I had heard a lot about the high quality and level of cricket in this league and had always wanted to play in this competition, so I feel very lucky that Burnley signed me up for this season. So far, I have played a few games, but it's been a great experience as I have had a chance to play some good quality games which is really enjoyable," Zakir said.