Pakistani baseball aspirant hopes his country embraces the sport, just like cricket

As he takes his first steps onto the immaculate green turf, Syed Muhammad Shah knows approximately 230 million of his compatriots would envy what he is about to do.

This weekend he will be playing professional sport at the Dubai International Stadium as a representative of Pakistan.

He knows the country’s beloved national cricket team used to call this place home. He has seen these stands pulsating with thousands of his countrymen for big matches against India, with millions more tuning in on TV.

This is a pilgrimage so many from back home would love to make. He is here with his bat and ball, too, but his motivations are slightly different.

Shah is here as a “prospect” player for the Baseball United All-Star Showcase, to be staged at the stadium in Sports City on Friday and Saturday.

He and another recruit from Pakistan, an infielder who goes by one name, Wahid, have been assigned to East All-Stars for the two-game series against West.

Shah is a catcher. He acknowledges they are among the minority in Pakistan whose bat and ball game of choice is baseball, but he wants to get the message out.

“I would love to tell people about baseball,” Shah, 19, said. “There is a lot of competition in cricket in Pakistan, but there is a favouritism in it also.

“In baseball, there's no favouritism. If you’re good enough, then you are in the team.

"I would like to suggest to people in Pakistan to play baseball. It's a similar sport and if you’re good, you'll be famous.”

Shah first came to baseball as a five-year-old schoolboy thanks to his father, who he says laid the foundations for the sport in Pakistan in 1982.

Shah made his first tour for a World Cup in Taiwan when he was just 11, and was spotted by Baseball United as one of the