Quetta on a mission as Karachi looks to dominate

Dubai. Quetta Gladiators team which has Viv Richards as their mentor want to give cricket in Quetta a big boost through the Pakistan Super League.

Pakistan’s wicketkeeper batsman Safraz Ahmad, who will lead Quetta Gladiators in the PSL, is on a mission. “The name of Quetta may not be very popular in Pakistan’s domestic cricket, but we want to make a mark. We want to move forward and we have players with talents. The most important factor is we have a great combination with even Kevin Pietersen in our line up. We have a mentor in Viv Richards and boys are already very motivated by him and that will lead them to perform well.”

Head Coach of Quetta Gladiators Moin Khan too feels that Quetta is the team to watch out for in this tournament. “Quetta Gladiators would be play attacking brand of cricket and I believe we’ve got a bunch of players who can certainly give a tough time to any side in the PSL,” said Khan, who like their captain was Pakistan’s wicketkeeper-batsman.

Shoaib Malek, captain of the Karachi Kings wants to continue to prove that Karachi cricket is as strong as they are in domestic cricket in the PSL too. “I would love to give lot of happiness to Karachi people. We are looking forward for PSL and I would like to wish all the best to all the captains because at the end of the day whichever team performs at their best will win.

“It will be great if we can in the process get some good players through this event to play for Pakistan national team so that the name of Pakistan will sparkle in world cricket,” said Malek.

Misbah-ul-Haq, who is the captain of Islamabad United, did not turn up for the captain’s meet during the trophy launch, but their team mentor Wasim Akram appealed not to compare PSL with Indian Premier League and said: “IPL is a very old tournament as it is in its ninth year. PSL is just starting with five teams. Everybody has worked tirelessly day in and day out to make it high-octane entertainment. In Twenty20 there are no favourites because the team that plays well will win. I can promise you it will be very clean and entertaining cricket here.”