Bilawal Bhatti

Bilawal is an explosive allrounder currently playing first class cricket in Pakistan for Southern Punjab. A very talented bowler capable of bowling over 140 kph and also a powerful hitter in the middle or lower order. Born in Muridke, a small town 40 km away from Lahore, Bhatti was thought to be good enough for international cricket well before he actually played for Pakistan. He made his first-class debut in 2009, and made his mark in the 20 matches he played for Sialkot, taking 89 wickets at 26. His better all-round performances, though, came with Sui Gas where in 17 matches with them before his ODI debut, he bagged 72 wickets at 19.33, and also scored two first-class centuries. He was called up into the national team when in good form, having smacked a century and a half-century, and also taken nine wickets in three games in the ongoing President Trophy 2013-14.

Unlike some of the other Pakistan bowlers, height isn’t one of his assets (he’s only 5 feet 6 inches tall), but his strength is the ability to nip the ball in sharply at good pace. As a batsman he is handy at No. 7 or 8, and is known for his clean hitting against spin. He made his ODI debut against South Africa in Cape Town in 2013, and made his mark immediately with both bat and ball, biffing 39 off 25 balls, and taking 3 for 37 in a Pakistan win.

In 2014 he was picked in the Pakistan Test squad for games against Sri Lanka in Dubai and Abu Dhabi taking 5 wickets in the first test and scored valuable runs in the second test. In 2015 he was selected for Pakistan’s ODI’s tour of New Zealand and Zimbabwe’s tour of Pakistan. Since then international honours have eluded him but he still continued to be a major player at first class level. Bilawal has been to Uk on numerous occasions starting in 2012 playing in the Derbyshire league for Alfreton CC scoring 584 runs at 32 and took 65 wickets at 11 with a best of 9-36. He then also had excellent success with Hem Heath CC and Todmorden CC.

Bilawal linked with Bagnall Norton CC in the North Stafforshire and South Cheshire league for summer 2021, bagging 42 wickets @ 14.50 to go with 559 runs @ 34.94 in a very genuine all-round manner as the club held their own in their first season in the ECB NSSC Premier League. He returned in 2022, bagging 48 wickets @ 12.17 with a best of 5-24 and chipped in with 318 runs.

In summer 2023, Bilawal joined Boyne Hill CC in the Thames Valley Cricket League and was outstanding, with 35 league wickets @ 14.11 to go with 397 runs @ 39.70 to help push the club to 3rd place. He returned to the UK, this time to Northern Ireland, joining Waringstown CC in the NCU Premier League. Very light on runs, he made up for it with 32 wickets, with particularly good cup/T20 form with 20 wickets coming in the knockout games.

A very pleasant indvidual, Bilawal seeks to return to the UK next summer.