Zainullah Ihsan missed the cutoff age for the Under-19 World Cup that ended on Friday, but the stars have now aligned nicely for the young fast bowler. “I was a little sad but, look, now I’m in the T20 World Cup!” gushed the Afghan pacer, who moved to Scotland four years ago.

Scotland, having failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup, found a berth after Bangladesh refused to play in India. In the scramble to put together a team in a short period of time, Ihsan made the cut. “I was half hoping, half expecting, but when I actually got the news of my call-up from the [team] coach, I was in shock.”