Bio

Adil Bhatti is a right arm medium fast bowler capable of batting anywhere in the top 6, making him a true all-round asset.

He has struggled to find a permanent place in the USA team since his debut in 2012, but has contributed some memorable performances.

His 3 for 29 opening the bowling, and 52 not out off 43 balls opening the batting in the same match against Bermuda in ICC WCL division 3 in 2014 demonstrated what he is capable of.

He will be hoping for more performances like that if given further opportunities. On his day he can be one of the most destructive T20 batsman in the country, and is certainly one of the most creative, with the full range of paddle and reverse sweeps in his repertoire.

21

Playing Number

Team Role

All-Rounder

Hometown

Rockville, Maryland

Nickname

AB & Bhattiesss

Country of Birth

Pakistan

Career Highlights

52 not out & 3 wickets in ICC Division Three 2014 for USA in Malaysia against Bermuda (opened batting and bowling for USA)

Favorite Cricketer

Hashim Amla & Saeed Anwar

"I believe a cricket player has to offer more than what he does on the field. We need to give back to our communities"

Bio Continued...

Adil Bhatti joined the Washington Cricket League in 2005. The league has long been one of the strongest in the country, and in those days the poster child of the league, Imran Awan was spearheading the USA bowling attack.

A young Bhatti was inspired by the tearaways success at International level, and he hoped one day to also pull on the Red White and Blue kit to represent his country with bat and ball.

And so he dedicated himself to training, including practicing with other teams outside of his own. This was unusual in those days when there wasn’t a lot of interaction outside of one’s own team.

Bhatti is a gatherer of people, and so practicing with other teams was a natural thing for him, enabling him to make numerous contacts and friendships with cricketers across the league.

Through those budding friendships he discovered that there were many players, especially the younger ones, who were hungry for more opportunities to play cricket outside of their regular league matches.

This also resonated with Bhatti, who professes to not being much of a watcher of cricket. He’d rather be playing, even if it means playing other sports that he is passionate about such as basketball.

Bhatti decided to take it upon himself to organize some cricket matches outside of the league season window for those players interested. The basis for these matches was to give an opportunity for people to play alongside a different mix of players, and for younger players to be given priority of place. By this stage Bhatti had made his debut for the USA team, and his growing profile in the league meant that he was able to gather a good number of interested parties. The endeavor to date has been blessed with good weather, something that is remarkable in itself given how quickly the seasons can change in the Atlantic region of the country.

More remarkable is that this group of young men, following Bhatti’s lead, decided to use these matches as charity fundraising ventures. “I believe a cricket player has to offer more than what he does on the field. We need to give back to our communities” states a passionate Bhatti.

As these matches have grown in profile, Bhatti has been able to reach out to players and team owners alike, further expanding the ability to raise funds. Through these matches funds have been raised for homeless shelters in the DC area, flood victims in Pakistan, and over $1000 in a day for Syrian refugees.

We have seen the power of high profile athletes using their platform to raise awareness of social issues in this country. Unfortunately this has not always been met with universal acclaim. And so it is great to see a young man using his status as a member of the US Cricket team to not only give playing opportunities for the youngsters in his hometown league, but to raise funds for causes which everyone can agree are worthy.