Sharjeel’s ton make UAE domestic players proud

Dubai: Sharjeel Khan, who became the first cricketer to hit a century in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and steer Islamabad into the final, has made UAE domestic cricketers proud.

A player for Phoenix Medicines during his off-season from Pakistan’s domestic cricket, the batsman revealed that his familiarity with the conditions has helped him. “For five years, I have been coming here to play. Some of those matches were played in these international venues, so I am more used to conditions here and the ground is familiar to me,” he said.

Speaking to Gulf News, Iran Ansari, the coach of Phoenix Medicines team, said: “Sharjeel has made all of us proud. It’s a honour that he plays regularly for us. For all of us, he is a UAE cricketer as he comes here every season.”

Be it UAE or Pakistan, Sharjeel follows a simple philosophy: “I focus on what has to be done as a batsman to be successful. Always remember that only the best performances gets highlighted. So my first focus is always to perform, score runs for the team and win matches.”

There is speculation that he has already been included in the Pakistan team for the upcoming Asia Cup and ICC Twenty20 World Cup despite being ignored earlier.

Sharjeel reached his century by hitting none other than the Pakistan Twenty20 team captain Shahid Afridi for a six. Despite being the losing captain of the Peshawar team, Afridi sportingly patted Sharjeel on reaching his century. After the match, Afridi even remarked that Sharjeel will be rewarded soon for that innings.

When Sharjeel was asked about the appreciation from Afridi, he said: “He (Afridi) is such a great player and a legend of our cricket and a big name. For him to offer me a gift I feel really nice. If there is any gift from Afridi then everyone will get to know about it soon.” Sharjeel then went on to quickly add: “Now I am focused to perform in the final.”

Was this knock, which has even been compared to Chris Gayle’s centuries in Twenty20 cricket, his best one? “This is my best innings in T20. My focus was to become the first man to hit a century in PSL. I am thankful to the almighty for helping me to achieve it. I have played many good innings; even my last innings in Twenty20 Internationals is a fifty in 25 balls (in Dubai stadium in 2013). I have played many good innings in domestic cricket. I have even hit 280 runs in first class cricket,” he said.

Sharjeel, though, does not want to think whether he is being selected for Pakistan or not. “Wherever I play, I work hard. I did the same with Pakistan A against England Lions. During the off season, after I was out of the Pakistan team, I worked hard. Even in domestic cricket for United Bank Limited I played hard. My coaches have always told me whenever you are out of the team, if you want to play for Pakistan again hit as many centuries as you can, then you can get back into the Pakistan team.”