Pakistan’s limited-overs skipper and the Pakistan Super League franchise captain Quetta Gladiators Sarfraz Ahmed is hopeful a successful final at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium will set the door open for the international cricket after Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) decision to host PSL final in the country got a green signal from the Punjab government last week.
“We are looking forward to a good and exciting final. This will be good for the country as well as fans of cricket across the world since this can help bring back cricket to the country,” Sarfraz was quoted as saying by The Express Tribune.
The 29-year-old wicket-keeper batsman feels it was a right decision that will help in resuming the cricket in the cricket-starved country in foreseeable future.
Earlier, the former cricketers had divided opinions which included former Pakistan skipper Imran Khan who said PSL final staging in Lahore is not a good idea following the curfew like situation in the country.
It’s the second time; Gladiators had reached the final for the second consecutive time to play the Title decided in front of a jam-packed home crowd in Lahore on March 5 against Peshawar Zalmi, who beat Karachi Kings in the knockout game by 24 runs on Saturday (March 3).
Quetta is comprised of International stars from Pakistan which includes batsman Asad Shafiq, all-rounder Anwar Ali and the left-arm orthodox spinner Zulfiqar Babar.
“Our local players have been playing cricket together for a very long time and that has helped us gel better than most teams. This will be key for us in the final,” Sarfraz revealed.
Gladiators suffered a huge blow after the side missed English star players in the form of Kevin Pietersen, Tymal Mills, Luke Wright and South African Rilee Rossouw, who all have had decided to opt out of the final owing to security concerns in the country.
As the tickets were sold out for the final, Sarfraz stated all have played an important role to help Gladiators reach the finals of PSL and it would be equally difficult to find the able replacement in the much-awaited final.
“It will have an effect on the team in the absence of our foreign players but we have other international players joining the team tomorrow, so we will try to pick the best side we can for the final. However, the likes of Pietersen and Mills will be difficult to replace,” Sarfraz concluded.
In a bid to make it a successful event in country’s Twenty20 League, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was himself monitoring the situation while chalking out the necessary security plans in the country.
However, Gladiators were runners-up in the inaugural edition of PSL where they lost the game against United, who registered their maiden title by six wickets and eight balls to spare.
The Karachi-born Sarfraz made his international debut in 2007 against India. He has played 67 One-day Internationals, 25 Twenty20 Internationals and 33 Tests for Pakistan.