Abu Dhabi: Pakistan skipper Sarfraz Ahmad candidly admitted ahead of the T20 series against Sri Lanka that he was ‘shaken’ after seeing television reports of the spot-fixing offer he was made.
Sarfraz said he did what he was supposed to do but fear crept up on him once he saw television channels going into a frenzy on the issue.
“Obviously, I did my job of informing and I was not scared when I informed about it, but became scared after I saw myself on television channels. There was so much talk about it in the media that I got scared. But by the grace of God everything is getting normal. When you are going into a series, you need to be normal and everything is going good so far,” said Sarfraz, whose team is currently second behind New Zealand in the T20 rankings and a 3-0 rout of Lanka can bridge the gap to a mere one point.
The skipper went on to reveal that the strongest point for Pakistan at the moment is their bench strength and with each player giving their best and fighting for a place, they are always in a dilemma on whom to pick.
“It is good that whichever players we are giving chances is performing and it shows how much talent we have in Pakistan cricket especially in bowling. All the players selected are looking to prove a point. Rumman (Rees) rested and Usman Shinwari came and performed. Faheem Ashraf also performed, so it is good that we have a strong bench strength and it has become difficult to decide which bowlers have to be included and whom to be rested,” revealed Sarfraz, who felt that the T20 contest will be an exciting unlike the one-sided affairs the fans witnessed in the ODIs.
Sri Lankan skipper Thisara Perera accepted that leading Sri Lanka is a huge challenge for him, especially having not led in any form of the game at any level before, but he was ready for it.
“First of all, it is an honour to represent my country, especially as captain. It is a new challenge for me, and my team. I will give this challenge 100 per cent for my country. We have good talent, young players. I think we can do something special in this series. I believe in my team and think we can give a good challenge to the Pakistan team,” asserted Perera.
