About to set off for India with England Under 19s, young spinner Hamidullah Qadri is relishing the challenge of balancing his cricket development alongside A-Levels.
The 17-year-old burst onto the scene in 2017 with a record-breaking return of 6-76 on his first-class debut against Glamorgan at Cardiff.
Since then he has represented England Under 19s and played in seven first-class matches for Derbyshire, all while completing the first year of his A-Levels.
The 20-day training camp in Bangalore precedes an all-format tour against Bangladesh and Qadri is hoping to learn more about his art and develop his game in what is a busy 12 months for the youngster.
He said: “I’m in the final year of my A-Levels, but I’m obviously delighted to go with the Under 19s to India. It’s a good opportunity for me to develop my game and obviously it’s challenging, but that’s what life is about and you have to make the most of it and enjoy it.
“I usually have a rough idea for the day, week or month of what I need to get done for school and cricket.
“My main focus is on cricket to improve the percentages I can, but I do enjoy my studies – it gives me focus and discipline for cricket. It gives me a desire to do well in sport and helps you realise that life is more about one thing.
“I’ve not had many opportunities in the past with the 19s, I’ve had a couple here and there. But I’ll be one of the more senior players there so I want to show the coaches and selectors what I’m capable of.
“The most important thing is to enjoy it and to learn from the experiences. India is a good place to go as a spinner, I’ll learn a lot there. The conditions are really different as are the pitches. It’s about having that ability to adapt – that’s what good players do with the bat or ball.”
He added: “It’s going to be busy for me, with a lot of overs. But that’s what I enjoy, bowling off spin, and working on my game.
“This winter is going to be good for my game and hopefully I can come back to training with Derbyshire, make an impression and have a good start to the season.”
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