In a space of just 11 months, Peshawar-born Maaz Sadaqat has compiled an admirable list of achievements and gained experience in different cricketing environments.
He won the player of the match award on his HBL PSL debut, which included a 102-run stand with Babar Azam, finished runners-up with Peshawar in both the National T20 Cup and Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and faced South Africa’s full-strength attack in a warm-up match before the ICC Champions Trophy in Karachi.
Additionally, he toured England and Australia with Pakistan Shaheens, struck a century against Adelaide Strikers in the Top End T20 in Darwin, scored his second first-class century for Peshawar, won Hong Kong Super Sixes and most recently earned the player of the tournament award in Pakistan Shaheens’ successful campaign in Asia Cup Rising Stars in Doha.
Reflecting on a very busy yet fruitful fifth year as a professional cricketer, Maaz says, “It has been a great year exposure-wise, especially with three Shaheens tours, domestic cricket, Hong Kong Sixes and now the Nepal Premier League. I have been making short stops at home between all these engagements, and the last time I left home after coming from Doha, my mother welled up seeing me for such a short time, but she is also so proud of seeing me do well after all we have gone through as a family.”
Maaz has so far played 24 first-class, 20 List A and 25 T20 matches. His latest statement and one which has brought him a lot of recognition was the 258 runs in five innings – the most in Asia Cup Rising Stars 2025 – and 7-52 in 12 overs with the ball for Pakistan Shaheens.
Reflecting on his stellar all-round form, he said, “Going into the tournament, I had plenty of belief in me and pledged to myself that I would win it for my team. All the hard work I have done before this season has paid off.”
Five of Maaz’s seven wickets in the competition included top-order batters, and he finished with a miserly average of 7.43 and an economy of 4.3. He says the cut-throat environment he experienced in the Hong Kong Sixes as a bowler benefited him in the 20-over tournament.
“In the Hong Kong Sixes, even if you went for three sixes, it was considered a good over, and the boundaries were short. But just a few days later, when I bowled in Doha, I felt near to no pressure because the moments felt less intense and I eased into my bowling role well, which helped our team.”
Maaz has batted on various surfaces and faced a variety of bowling attacks during his sojourns with Peshawar Zalmi, Shaheens and Peshawar in domestic cricket across the formats and showcased his rich run-scoring form and a solid technique.
The challenge of switching between white-ball and red-ball does not bother him much as he believes, “In modern-day cricket, if you observe that the best batters are almost batting with the same kind of tempo across formats, so I tend to follow the same rule for myself and look to get going wherever I am batting.”
Preparing meticulously before every series or tournament has been the cornerstone of all the success he has reaped so far, and his regional head coach and former KP teammate Raffatullah Mohmand testifies, “Apart from being a quick learner and skilled cricketer, Maaz’s success also lies in in-depth preparation of all the challenges facing him.
“Right from the moment he shot into regional and provincial squads of KP and Peshawar as a teenager, he started observing and talking to all the experienced players like Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed and Sahibzada Farhan. He took out leaves from their playbooks and applied them in his training and preparation, which has sped up his progress.”
Raffatullah rated him highly from the early days and arranged for him a contract in the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League 2023 for the City Club, where he made his List A debut in Savar and scored 128 runs in six matches, including a fifty and picked up four wickets as an 18-year-old.
Talking about his journey, Maaz recollected that his elder brother, Haroon Sadaqat, who played 10 first-class games for FATA in 2016 and has made a comeback to the four-day game after nine years in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy season for the same team, took him to Ashnaghar Cricket Club in Peshawar after he had passed matriculation.
“I was a school kid and was hitting big sixes in my first club cricket game, and everyone was super impressed. After this, my brother and my family decided to let me appear in trials, which helped me become a part of PCB’s pathways stream.
Like many young batters in Pakistan, he envisioned himself batting with Pakistan’s latest entrant to the 15,000 international runs club, Babar Azam, and his dream finally came to life when he was picked by Peshawar Zalmi in HBL PSL X.
“During the pre-tournament training sessions, apart from training with him and learning different aspects of the game, I also told Babar how I had always wanted to bat alongside him. It felt great to be living through those moments as a young player.”
Maaz’s long wait to bat with Babar ended when Peshawar Zalmi handed him the HBL PSL debut and slipped to 38-3 in 5.5 overs chasing 144 against Islamabad United at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on 2 May. The duo remained in the middle for 62 balls in a game-changing century partnership, where Maaz hit four fours and three sixes in his 33-ball 55.
“With Babar at the other end, I felt no pressure, and I turned to my natural game, acquiring more belief. That time also helped me realise how much I have trained all my life to get here and do well. I felt a lot more motivated to showcase my skills and win the game for my team.”
Maaz struck 104 off 59 balls against Adelaide Strikers at Darwin’s Marrara Cricket Ground in the Top End T20 on 20 August, after he was asked to open the batting for Pakistan Shaheens, having appeared in the middle order and getting to face a handful of balls in the previous four games.
“Our team management decided to open with me midway, and I repaid the confidence with a century. I made full use of the field restrictions, hitting shots in my zone and reverted to strike rotation coupled with a boundary almost every over. My appetite to build the innings increased when I failed to impress in England during the three-day and 50-over matches.”
