Hassan's numbers in themselves are something to behold. In ODIs, he has a bowling average of 22.48, which drops to a frankly ridiculous 10.66 in T20 Internationals. With the red ball, that figure remains at a shade over 21. These are not the numbers of your average Associate seamer, which is just as well, because that is exactly what Hamid Hassan isn't.
With the departure of Boyd Rankin to find fame and fortune with England, Hassan is now unquestionably the fastest Associate bowler at present. That added pace is more than enough not just to rattle the cages of your average Associate batsman, but also of some of the best batsmen in the world, like Jonathan Trott, Jacques Kallis and JP Duminy, and also batsmen not born in Cape Town. Without him, Afghanistan are not the same intimidating force.
Hamid Hassan's presence on his own is enough to make a cricket match watchable.
Hamid Hassan's journey from terrorising lower-end World Cricket League batsmen to terrorising world class batsmen has not been seamless. His injury-related issues have led to his presence in only sixteen of Afghanistan's 25 ODIs, and eleven of sixteen Twenty20s. These aren't shabby totals, but he would have played in every single one if only he had stayed fit. Still only 26, he will almost certainly make an appearance in the next World Twenty20 and World Cup. He will show the world that Associate cricket isn't all about foreign-born players scratching around against dobbly medium-pacers.
Hamid Hassan gives Associate cricket an X-factor it has been missing since Ryan ten Doeschate ceased playing for the Netherlands.