Quick Single: Father and son partnership

International cricket is still waiting for the day father and son play together, and Mohammad Nabi might have an answer...

Hassan Khan is a great prospect for the future, and there are great expectations. But my interest is in whether he will play with his father or not.

(image Pawan Singh / The National )

If Mohammad Nabi plays for three or four more years, we might get to watch something very special: a father and son combination.

As far as I know, there has never been a father and son combination in international cricket. There have been quite a few in First Class cricket, and even then they have been from a long time ago. The most recent one that I could find was of Dennis Lillee and his son Adam who opened the bowling together for the Australian Cricket Board Chairman's XI against Pakistan in 1999.

I think the highlight of that match was when the scoreboard read: Ghulam Ali c Lillee b Lillee. Ghulam Ali pulled a bouncer by Dennis towards fine leg, where Adam executed a spectacular one-handed catch to dismiss him. I don't think there was anything that could have made Dennis prouder. Hell, Adam could have gone on to have a great career for Australia (which he didn't) and Dennis would still always point to that match, that moment, as the proudest he had ever been.

These are things that happen in backyard cricket matches with mum as the wicketkeeper, little sister/brother running about chasing balls. Very few players dare to dream of these things.

And Nabi could do it too. He is definitely not a bad bowler. In fact, he is very good. I don't think he gets picked by T20 leagues all over the world because of his batting. He is good with the bat, can really hit a long ball and is useful in the lower-middle order. But I think it is his bowling that speaks the loudest when teams are looking at him.

He is very economical with his off-break and does get wickets too, just not as much as his countryman Rashid Khan. But, he is quite a dependable bowler with very good skills.

Something else that could happen, which would be as cool could be what happened in baseball in 1990. In a match for the Mariners, father and son Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. hit back-to-back home runs in a match, off the same pitcher.

A guy called Kirk McCaskill holds the unfortunate record of being the pitcher to be hit for back-to-back home runs by father and son. If I was McCaskill, I would be a proud owner of a ball with both their autographs.

The two played together in 1991 and 1992. Griffey Sr was 40 and Griffey Jr was 20. Which is what could happen for Nabi and his son, Hassan Khan. When Nabi turns 40, Hassan Khan will be 20. And very much like Ken Griffey Jr, and a lot unlike Adam Lillee, Hassan Khan is a really talented young man. Paul Radley describes him as a highly talented natural athlete.

So, instead of back to back home runs we might be treated to a partnership with some serious power hitting on both ends.

I know 16 is a bit early to be speculating on the future of a player, but I now understand the excitement of basketball reporters when they heard of Lebron James' 16 year-old son, Bronny. I also think that the fact that he is a student at the Sharjah academy helps with my day-dreaming a bit. And unlike his father who struggled for gear in his early years playing for Afghanistan, when players depended on handouts from richer cricketing nations, Hassan Khan has all needs thanks to his father’s success as a player.

The only problem though, if they end up playing for Afghanistan together, who will wear the jersey number 7? They both seem to like it.

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