Usman Tariq's untold story: A cricketing journey inspired by MS Dhoni's biopic

New Delhi: It was 2017. Haseeb ur Rahman vividly remembers the night he and his cousin Usman Tariq were having dinner and watching MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, a biopic on the former India captain.

That night changed Tariq’s life forever. After watching the movie, he decided to pursue his true passion, cricket, and left Dubai for the second time to make a name for himself.“He got motivated after watching Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s movie. What moved him was how Dhoni worked as a ticket collector while juggling his dream of playing cricket for India with his job. The scene that moved Usman was when Dhoni was sitting on a bench at the platform, it started raining, and he then ran and caught the train to head home and give cricket another shot. That scene inspired Usman to take the leap of faith, and I remember him saying, ‘Bhai jaan mera scene bhi toh yahi hai’ (My case is also pretty similar),” Haseeb ur Rahman tells TimesofIndia.com from Dubai.

Haseeb says what he saw in Usman’s eyes that day made him believe the boy was destined for bigger things.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“Uski aankhon mey ek zidd thi, ek junoon, aap yun keh leh ki pagalpan tha (There was a stubborn resolve in his eyes, a burning obsession, you could even call it madness),” says Haseeb, with a lump in his throat.Usman followed his calling and left Dubai for the second time, this time with a purpose. Success did not come immediately.

He had to toil hard, and one fine day his bowling video went viral on social media.

“He joined a cricket academy in Nowshera, which is around 30 kilometres from our village Charsadda. Usman used to bowl to Pakistan cricketer Iftikhar Ahmed in the nets, and one fine day his bowling video went viral,” says Haseeb.“He became a celebrity. People started calling him to play matches for their clubs. They used to pay him between Rs 500 and Rs 1,500.

The money helped him with fuel,” laughs Haseeb.“Then I think he got an offer from the US. He played for a small club there. He also played in the Karachi Premier League, where he caught everyone’s attention. Then the PSL came calling, followed by the CPL, Pakistan’s national team and now the ILT20 as well,” he adds.The club matches Usman played would not have been possible without Haseeb, who sent him money to buy a bike.

“He used to walk kilometres to play matches. I asked him to buy a bike. It was a gift from me, but after that it was up to Usman how he maintained it. I did my job as an elder brother,” says Haseeb.

Chopping onions, surviving Kabul’s cold

Before watching MS Dhoni’s biopic, moving back to Pakistan and eventually wearing national colours, the road Usman took was a long one.Usman lost his father very early and, being the eldest in the family, by the time he turned a teenager he was already working and had become the sole breadwinner.“It was in 2007 when his father died. The family was under financial duress,” recollects Haseeb. “He moved to Dubai when he was only a teenager. He worked in a hotel and his job was chopping onions. He did it for a few weeks. It was a tough job and it took a toll on him. One day he messaged me and said he had to stand all day and his back had started hurting. He returned to Peshawar after resigning,” reminisces Haseeb.

At the time, Haseeb was working with an NGO in Kabul, Afghanistan.“I asked him to come to Kabul. He landed in winter. The temperature was minus 10 degrees. In Kabul, it goes down to minus 15 degrees at night.“I asked my bosses to help me find him a job. But jab aapki kismat kharab rehti hai toh aap kuch nahi kar sakte (When you are out of luck, nothing goes your way). My boss did not give me a positive response,” he says.Haseeb even went to the director of his NGO, offering to take a pay cut.“I told him, ‘aap isey kaam de do aur meri salary cut kar ke ise paise de do, but isey pata nahi chalna chahiye’ (Give him the job instead and pay him by cutting my salary, but he should not find out).

At least he would have some mental peace. It also did not work out.

“We tried a lot, despite the security situation in Kabul. He stayed with me for three weeks. When it started snowing, his back pain worsened. I advised him to go back to Peshawar because he would not have survived Kabul’s winter,” says Haseeb.

Back in Dubai

Usman kept doing odd jobs for three years in Islamabad. In 2016, when Haseeb moved to Dubai from Kabul, his younger brother followed him.

But it was not easy, as accommodation in Dubai is very expensive, and without a job, Usman stayed in a labour camp where he shared a room with 20 others.“I did not have a job, and neither did he. I was staying at a friend’s flat in Dubai, whereas he was staying in a labour camp in Sonapur. He was sharing a room with 20 people,” recollects Haseeb.

“I invited him over one day. He came all the way from Sonapur. Living in a labour camp is tough, and I could see he was not well.

I asked him to spend the night at my friend’s place without even seeking permission. I will never forget the happiness in his eyes,” says Haseeb.After finding a job as a logistics officer in a procurement company, the juggle between life, cricket and work continued.In October 2016, another life-changing moment arrived on Usman’s door when the duo went to a Peshawar Zalmi talent hunt in Dubai.

“Those they found interesting were asked to bowl more. When Usman bowled, they were impressed.

He was asked to bowl six balls. I thought they would sign him, but they did not offer him a contract,” says Haseeb, who was also the first to suggest Usman stick to spin after he went for runs in a street cricket match played on Sundays near the Hyatt Regency hotel in Palm Deira.“In that tournament, he switched to spin bowling and immediately made an impact,” says Haseeb.A week later, Zalmi called him to return to Pakistan to play matches.“He could not afford to lose his job and said no to Zalmi. He was in tears that day,” recollects Haseeb.

The debate on bowling action

Recently, Usman has been in the news because of his bowling action.During the T20I series against Australia, Cameron Green irritably mimicked his action, accusing the Pakistani spinner of chucking. The same happened during the ILT20 in Abu Dhabi, where England batter Tom Banton made a similar chucking gesture.

Former India spinner R Ashwin also took a subtle dig. “There is a pause in Usman Tariq’s action, which is legally allowed.

His action is unusual and unique, with some variations. Ultimately, the decision on its legality rests with the ICC, the umpires and the match referees,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.But Usman found support in former Australia cricketer Usman Khawaja. “There aren’t many things worse than being called a chucker in cricket. The stigma is real. The man is just doing his best and has been cleared twice. Let’s have some perspective and understanding and stop jumping to conclusions,” Khawaja said on Instagram.

At Pakistan’s pre-match press conference in Colombo, Salman Ali Agha also came out in support of his player.“I don’t understand why we are talking about his action. In my opinion, it is a fair action. He has been tested twice and has cleared it. In the end, does he need to hang a notice around his neck saying that he is clear,” said Agha.

Mental toughness

Amid all the noise around his bowling action, Haseeb says Usman remains unfazed and credits his mental toughness.“He jokes about it,” says Haseeb. “He says he does not care. He passes a sarcastic smile and says they do not know that he has cleared the ICC’s test twice. ‘Jitni nafrat faila rahe, main utna mashoor ho raha hoon’ (The more hatred they spread, the more famous I become).”

Haseeb recalls the time they spent together in Dubai and Kabul and says Usman would often tell him, “Bhai jaan, main yeh 9-to-5 waali zindagi ke liye nahi bana hoon (I am not built for a nine-to-five life).”Like Dhoni, whose batting and keeping technique and long hair once led many to doubt him, Usman realised after watching the biopic that he would need to do something special at the World Cup. He wants to be known for his wicket-taking ability rather than his slingy action.