Dubai: Sarfraz Ahmad, the captain of the Quetta Gladiators, is also the captain of the Pakistan national team.
For Sarfraz, if he can lift the Pakistan Super League Cup, which had eluded him eluded his team twice despite reaching the final, it will be big boost for him. This triumph can also confirm him as the captain of the Pakistan team for the 2019 World Cup.
After New Zealand had thrashed Pakistan 5-0 recently, there has been an uncertainty over him being retained as captain for the World Cup. In fact, after a match winning unbeaten knock of 45, which help Quetta defeat Peshawar Zalmi by six wickets and won him the man of the match award, he was asked whether he would demand an assurance from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to be retained as captain for the world cup.
“I have never demanded captaincy in my career and the decision to appoint me as captain will rest with the PCB. “It is up to the PCB to decide who should and who should not remain captain. My duty is to play cricket, which I am doing. My captaincy is going fine and I am hopeful that it will continue to remain so.”
Sarfraz then went on the explain how his team chased Peshawar’s challenging total of 157 for five. “When I went in to bat, we needed 7.5 to the over. I told (Rilee) Rossouw of the importance to have a partnership. He played really well, his nature isn’t to play a subdued game, but we chased well.”
Sarfraz admitted that his bowlers could have reduced the target. “We conceded 10 to 12 runs more than we would’ve liked, but overall the bowlers did well. We have two big players joining the side — Jason Roy and Rashid Khan. Now our challenge will be to see how we can fit them in.”
Quetta’s triumph also resulted in Lahore Qalandars becoming the first team to crash out of the PSL without reaching the eliminators. With only two points from their seven games, Qalandars had a slender chance to reach the eliminators if they won their remaining three matches. With Karachi Kings destroying Multan Sultans by 63 runs and Quetta’s win over Peshawar made their task impossible. Even if Qalandars end up with eight points that would not be enough as the four teams making it through to the next round need at least 9 points each.
When Sarfraz was told about Lahore’s early exit, he said: “I didn’t expect Lahore Qalandars to be eliminated from the first stage of the tournament. Their team’s performance is getting better with every match as the bowlers and batsmen are now playing their required roles.”
Sarfraz expressed his hope that his star player Kevin Pietersen would join the team to play in Pakistan. “KP is KP but I hope he takes a good decision. He will defiantly realise that last year we suffered loss because of the absence of four international players. But we have replacements in line as well now, he said.
Peshawar skipper Darren Sammy lauded Quetta’s show and said: “Quetta played better cricket and deserved to win. Disappointing to lose, we have two games left. If we can win and other results go in our favour, we can qualify. This season, things haven’t gone as per plan but we won’t give up. It’s all in our hands, we want to win the next two games.”
Brief scores:
Quetta Gladiators bt Peshawar Zalmi by six wkts. Peshawar 157 for 5 in 20 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 31, Dwayne Smith 49, Darren Sammy 36n.o, Shane Watson 2 for 26) Quetta 158 for 4 in 19.2 overs (Shane Watson 37, Kevin Pietersen 21, Sarfraz Ahmad 45n.o, Rilee Rossouw 30n.o) Man of the match: Sarfraz Ahmad.
