Throughout our interview, Ihsan kept coming back to his determination to do his best and leave no stone unturned.
There is no arrogance about him, just a steely confidence and a drive that is built into his psyche.
Ihsan, along with team-mate Safyaan Sharif, received their visas after the rest of the travelling Scotland party and so were unable to play in the Scots’ first warm-up match against Afghanistan.
Despite that disappointment, he still took the opportunity to pick the brains of Hamid Hassan – former Afghanistan opening bowler and now coach – and one of the sport’s most experienced campaigners in Mohammad Nabi.
Global superstar Rashid Khan also came over for a chat before the game.
These are some of Ihsan’s heroes, but there are no split loyalties.
“Scotland gave me respect and believed in me,” he said. “I was born in Afghanistan but my country is Scotland.”
He experienced his first taste of international cricket on Wednesday, taking 1-49 as Scotland were narrowly beaten by Namibia in a high-scoring game.
The teams then played a practice super over, with Ihsan trusted to bowl for Scotland.
“He’s got decent pace, he’s able to deliver a yorker, slower balls and a bouncer, which in T20s are good commodities to have,” assistant coach Gordon Drummond said.
“He played his first game and it showed if you’re off the mark a little bit you can get punished. The more experience he has, the more he will develop.
“He’s going to learn a lot from the guys we’ve got out here and he really enjoyed having conversations with the Afghanistan players the other day.
“He’s quite a grounded individual and the really nice thing from [the Namibia game] was he came off the park and was annoyed at how he bowled. That shows how much character he has and his willingness to learn.
“We can’t predict the future, but there’s not been a huge amount of input from Cricket Scotland staff. I feel like there’s a lot more in the tank and that’s the exciting thing. The more he plays against top-level opposition the more he will learn.”
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