Crafty Azmatullah Omarzai on his way to be Afghanistan's own Hardik Pandya

An allrounder who can bat in the top seven and bowl crucial overs is on the wish list of every captain in white-ball cricket. But such multi-dimensional cricketers are quite rare these days. India's Hardik Pandya is the gold standard for that breed in white-ball cricket, and his recent injury has only amplified his value to the team. The only way to replace Hardik is by picking a player of each discipline, which isn't possible in an XI.

Afghanistan, though, don't have to worry too much about the balance of their side as they have a fit and firing Azmatullah Omarzai at their disposal. Omarzai is only 23, and has played only 17 ODIs so far, but has already shown potential to become Afghanistan's Hardik in the future. He can operate with the new ball, club big sixes lower down the order, and even slide up the order and accumulate more steadily, like he did against India in Delhi. Afghanistan's team management has seen enough of those skills to invest in him and relegate the more experienced Gulbadin Naib to the reserves.

Omarzai had started his career primarily as a batter, with bowling only being his secondary skill. In his first T20 in 2018, in the Afghanistan Premier League (APL), he didn't even bowl a single over. In the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in the same year, he bowled only 16.4 overs in four games. Five years on, it's no longer his secondary skill. He has impressed Sachin Tendulkar so much that his wrist position reminds Tendulkar of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

That magic in his wrist and a bolt-upright seam enable Omarzai to swing the ball both ways. It was on display during the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and Pakistan Super League (PSL). It was also on display against New Zealand in the World Cup match in Chennai on Wednesday. He got a 10-over old ball to swing in the air and seam in off the deck to have half-centurion Will Young nicking behind. In the same over, his first of the innings, Omarzai had castled Rachin Ravindra with a length ball that moved in. That double-blow gave New Zealand a minor scare before Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips rescued them.

Omarzai's arrival on the big stage lends more variety to Afghanistan's attack. Fazalhaq Farooqi can also swing the ball, but he's a left-armer, while Naveen-ul-Haq is more of a slower-ball specialist. Afghanistan's attack is not just about the spinners anymore. Omarzai has fairly limited options with the ball at the death for now, but he will have a bigger role to play once Naveen retires from ODI cricket after this World Cup.

Omarzai had decided to become a professional cricketer after being inspired by Afghanistan's triumph over Bangladesh in the 2014 Asia Cup in Fatullah - their first-ever ODI win over a Test-playing nation.

"In 2014, me and my family were watching Afghanistan's match against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup," Azmatullah recalled, speaking to ACB's YouTube channel in 2021. "Afghanistan won that match and even my father, who didn't understand much about the sport, enjoyed the experience and used to ask us about things whenever we celebrated a four or six by our team.

"He celebrated Afghanistan's victory and gave us the car keys to go out and celebrate the victory even though in our family we're not allowed to roam out in the evenings. When we came back from outside, my father asked me if I wanted to become a cricketer. I told him that I loved cricket for a long time and played tennis-ball cricket. After that my father allowed me to play and told my brothers allow Azmat to play cricket come what may."

Call it a quirk of fate, and Omarzai's breakout tournament came in Bangladesh. He was the highest wicket-taker among overseas players, with 15 strikes in 11 matches at an economy rate of 7.17, and fourth highest overall, in the most recent BPL. Those numbers propelled him into the PSL - after Shakib Al Hasan pulled out for personal reasons, Babar Azam's Peshawar Zalmi brought Omarzai in as a replacement player.

Omarzai made an immediate impact on his PSL debut, returning 3 for 28 against Karachi Kings in Rawalpindi in March earlier this year. He struck either side of the powerplay to get rid of Adam Rossington and Tayyab Tahir. He then returned in the end overs to have the dangerous Ben Cutting holing out. Seven months ago, Omarzai was celebrating with Babar and sharing the spotlight with him. He went onto feature in the PSL knockouts under his leadership.

Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott said that the team will not just lean on intel from Omarzai, but also from the rest of the players, who had participated in the bilateral ODI series against Pakistan in Sri Lanka in August earlier this year.

"It's not just the people who you have played with - it's a whole team's responsibility every time we play against an opposition to have a look and see what areas they are," Trott said at his press conference on the eve of their match against Pakistan. "Or how are we going to get them out in the future, if we face bowlers you know how we're going to be able to score runs against him or play against him in the future.

"It's not just one player, perhaps he's got a bit of inside info, he's practiced with them or sort of spent a bit of time off the field. I think it's the responsibility of everyone and us as coaches as well to come up with plans to execute tomorrow night."

Omarzai has now been pitted against Babar in the World Cup clash at Chepauk. Afghanistan need him to reprise his PSL heroics - and also deliver with the bat - if they are to add Pakistan to their list of World Cup scalps.