Born in Pakistan, raised by parents who are mad Shah Rukh Khan fans, Rahman Hekmat is first player of Afghan origin to play for New Zealand
Rahman Hekmat was an infant when his parents moved to New Zealand from Afghanistan in search of a better life. Growing up in Auckland, with parents being ardent cricket and Bollywood buffs, Rahman, the eldest of three siblings, automatically fell in love with cricket, but he still struggles with Hindi cinema.
“My dad really loves Bollywood movies. When he would put up some movie, I would try and jump in and see If I can catch it. If I didn’t get the story, I really got very bored, so he would try to explain it to me. I struggle to understand Hindi. I always tell him to put the caption on, but he says the sense gets lost in the translation,” says Rahman
“Recently, my parents went on to watch Shah Rukh Khan starrer Dunki. My father loved the movie, and he explained it to me over the phone for two hours. He is a fan of the actor and was trying to explain everything about him and his work. I try my bit to learn,” he laughs.
Rahman might have a long way to go with Hindi cinema, but in cricket, the 18-year-old has had a rapid rise. He started playing at the age of 11. He wanted to be a fast bowler, and it was in their house’s corridor that his father spotted something in him.
“I started as a pace bowler. One day my dad and I were playing, and I started bowling a few leggies. My dad thought I had a natural action and was quite similar to Shane Warne. He spoke to my coach, not a personal coach, he was just a player’s dad, who used to help out all the kids. The day after, we went for training, and then my coach also saw something in my bowling and said it is something we can work on. From there onwards, it was all leg-spin,” he shares.
Hekmatullah, an engineer by profession, introduced his son to Shane Warne, and then came the fellow Afghan leggie Rashid Khan, who had a big impact on his son Rahman.
“My idols are Shane Warne and Rashid Khan. Warne is the greatest of all time. Rashid Khan is an Afghani and got a quick leg break and wrong’un. The thing is I also love to bowl quite a few googlies like Rashid,” he says. “Over the years, when my cricketing knowledge improved, I started following other wrist-spinners as well. I look up to Ish Sodhi, Adam Zampa, and Adil Rashid. I look up to all the leggies, all of them are different. I try to notice their tactic, their speed, field placements and variations. Each one of them are artists in their own way,” he says.
“I like to hit here and there like Rashid, but I still need to work a lot on my batting. But whenever the ball is in my area, I try to hit it for a six,” he adds.
Rahman, who hails from Kabul, Afghanistan, was born in Peshawar. His father, a cricket nut, was ecstatic when Afghanistan were on a roll in the ODI World Cup.
“They went on beating one former World champion to another. It was quite a rollercoaster. My father was over the moon. He supports New Zealand and Afghanistan. Infact, he supports all the teams. He just loves cricket in general, regardless of which team is playing. He just wants to watch the match and be happy about it. Since 2015, the first time Afghanistan played in the World Cup, their progress has been impressive and it has made my dad really happy,” he says.
