Usman Tariq: From Salesman to Pakistan’s New Mystery-Spin Sensation

Key Points

• Usman Tariq’s hat-trick against Zimbabwe sealed Pakistan’s spot in the T20I tri-series final
• The 27-year-old’s unconventional action and dramatic pause make him cricket’s newest “mystery spinner”
• He left cricket after early setbacks and worked as a salesman in Dubai
• Inspired by the film M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, he quit his job and returned to Pakistan to revive his cricket career
• Strong PSL, CPL, and domestic seasons propelled him to a dream international debut in 2025

 ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s newest cricketing headline-maker, Usman Tariq, has burst onto the international scene like a plot twist, delivering a hat-trick against Zimbabwe to push Pakistan into the T20I tri-series final. Though it’s been barely a month since the 27-year-old debuted for Pakistan, Tariq has quietly circled the T20 globe for years.

Hailing from Nowshera in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, his journey has been anything but straightforward. As a young man, Tariq moved to the UAE, stepped away from cricket entirely, and worked as a salesman. But destiny nudged him back. After he watched the MS Dhoni biopic M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story in 2016, the fire reignited, and he returned to the game he had abandoned.

Tariq recalled in an interview, “When I wasn’t selected, I walked away from cricket and took a salesman’s job at a purchasing company in Dubai. Then one day, I watched M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, and it hit me hard. I quit my job, returned to Pakistan, and chased cricket again.”

He made his T20 debut for Peshawar in the 2023 National T20 Cup, followed by a quiet stint in the 2024 PSL. It wasn’t until a breakout 2024-25 domestic season, 22 wickets in 15 games, that his career truly accelerated.

Tariq’s bowling action is unmistakable and almost theatrical: a standard run-up, a dramatic freeze for up to two seconds, and then a slinging, side-arm offbreak. Unorthodox, deceptive, and impossible to ignore, this unusual pause is the heart of his “mystery.”

Twice, he has faced scrutiny for a suspect action, first in PSL 2024 and again the following season. Both times, he cleared testing at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore, returning with his variations intact.

His rise continued with Quetta Gladiators in PSL 2025, where 10 wickets in five matches propelled them to the final. In the Caribbean Premier League, he became a standout performer, taking 20 wickets in 10 games for champions Trinbago Knight Riders—finishing as the tournament’s second-highest wicket-taker.

 

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Tariq’s international debut in Lahore in November 2025 was equally impressive, dismissing Reeza Hendricks and Dewald Brevis to help Pakistan seal the series against South Africa. And then came the spell that made headlines: 4 for 18, including a hat-trick, against Zimbabwe.

From salesman to sensation, from T20 wanderer to Pakistan’s latest spin enigma, Usman Tariq’s story is only just beginning.

Pakistan bowlers with men’s T20I hat-tricks