By Muhammad Asif Khan
The second edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) is to begin in the second week of February this year and all the participating teams are charged up to put up their best. The most expensive outfit of the competition, Karachi Kings are upbeat to exhibit the contrasting performance from the last edition. The owner of the franchise, Salman Iqbal said with the balanced bunch of players the Karachi Kings are really the outfit to look forward to in the upcoming PSL.
“Unlike the last year, we have specialist batsmen, bowlers along with quality all-rounders this time around. We have a very well balanced outfit which will produce favorable results in the upcoming PSL”, Salman Iqbal hoped.
“Last time we got only about two months for preparation hence it was difficult to hold the team together. This time we had a year to shape up the combination and result is event as we have the likes of Sangakkara, Chris Gayle, Pollard, Babar Azam, Ryan McLaren etc on board”, Salman Iqbal added.
The Karachi Kings’ owner didn’t mince a word in sharing his thoughts about team’s leadership. He was of the opinion that a top international player would be better off as a captain and would have a greater impact on younger players. “Let me make it clear that Shoaib Malik himself decided to make way for Kumar Sangakkara who, I believe, will have a great impact on the younger players. An international captain comes in with a new thought process and imparts it into a young local lad who goes back into the domestic circuit with a new acumen eventually”, Salman Iqbal said.
“We need to have international players to have a say. The basic idea behind the PSL was to provide emerging players with a chance to rub shoulders with international greats. The kind of learning curve a young player goes through is just enormous”, Salman Iqbal felt.
Salman Iqbal said that his own players got improved in various areas including fitness while spending time with international players during last season. “Saifullah Bangash, Shahzaib Hassan and Imad Wasim were a bit over-weight and I spoke to them during the last PSL which changed their mindset. I urged them to look up to fitness regimes of their foreign team mates. Look at these boys now, their physical fitness has improved considerably”, Salman Iqbal mentioned.
In the end, Salman Iqbal urged the Pakistan cricket fans to back Karachi Kings, which he termed the mini-Pakistan team. “Karachi has all the ethnicity and cultural effects of Pakistan. Karachi is a melting pot where people from every corner of the country lives. It is mini-Pakistan so is the Karachi Kings”, Salman Iqbal said.
“Having said that the Pakistan Super League is our own tournament and in the end whoever wins, it will be the victory of Pakistan”, Salman Iqbal concluded.