ISLAMABAD - Al-rounder Muhammad Nawaz looks highly confident about his performance in the Pakistan Super League 2019 and attributed his success to hard work and support from Quetta Gladiators team members.
Talking to The Nation, left-arm spinner and middle-order batsman M Nawaz said: “Gladiators is very balanced team, which hardly has a role to play as batsman, but when I get a chance to show my talent with bat, I always love to perform and deliver for my team. The PSL-4 is so far highly successful for me and my team. The pitches are equally helpful to bowlers as well as batsmen.
“Every player loves to enjoy support of maximum crowd. Off course, there wasn’t good crowd during working days, but during weekends, crowd started to build up. Sharjah is situated in centre of the city, which is easily approachable for the general people, which resulted in sizable crowds on lean days and they were in quite numbers during weekends. For the first time, we played PSL matches in Abu Dhabi and the crowd was massive despite the fact that it wasn’t weekend and the stadium was also quite far from the main city,” he added.
Nawaz said that he had played leagues in South Africa and Bangladesh which helped him a lot in improving his game and form. “I really enjoyed while batting in those leagues. I only batted twice in PSL, as our top order is too strong to give chance to the lower order batsmen. We get wonderful starts from Watson and others, while in middle order, we have Umar Akmal, who is enjoying rich form and skipper Sarfraz Ahmed is always there, when team needed him to bat and score quick runs.
“I am highly pleased that Shane Watson is coming to play for Gladiators in Karachi. In the past, we failed to lift the trophy despite making it to the finals twice just because our top international players didn’t make it to Pakistan. But now situation is completely different, each and every player wants to perform for the team and especially the owner Nadeem Umar wants us to win the trophy.
“Watson in the team means a lot for Gladiators as he can single-handedly change the entire situation of the match. He is in rich form, which will definitely boost our chances to clinch the PSL trophy,” he added.
He said playing PSL matches in Pakistan will help local players a great deal as they will not only share the dressing room but also learn a lot from the top international players. “This time, almost all the top foreign players have agreed to play in Pakistan, which wasn’t witnessed in the past editions. It will certainly help Pakistan cricket and help in bringing full-fledged international cricket back to Pakistan.
The all-rounder said that it doesn’t matter that Shane Watson or others have retired from international cricket as they are still capable of contributing and helping their teams win the match single-handedly. “They have played a lot of cricket not only for their respective countries, but also globally. They are passing on their vast knowledge to our boys and also other international players.
“When top quality players play in Karachi Stadium, it will be pack to capacity and massive crowd’s presence will boost the youngsters’ confidence. They will adapt to the conditions and try to live up to the occasion and contribute in the best possible manner,” he added.
“I am optimistic that in next few months, the things will be far better for PSL-5. With the sacrifices of our armed forces, I am confident that PSL-5 will entirely be played in Pakistan. This feeling is beyond expression and I can’t wait to let this happen,” he added.
“I am hopeful about my chances of making it to the national team for the coming Australia and England matches. The World Cup is just round the corner and I am enjoying super form with both bat and ball. My job is to perform consistently and it is up to the selectors what they decide about my fate. I will give more than 100 percent, if I am provided with the chance of playing for the country,” Nawaz concluded.