PSL 2023: Gurbaz says pre-match talk with Babar Azam 'helped a lot'

KARACHI: Islamabad United's (IU) aggressive opener Rehmanullah Gurbaz said Thursday that he had a chat with Peshawar Zalmi skipper Babar Azam that helped him perform well in the game against Peshawar.

The right-hander, who scored a blistering 62 off 31 balls, said he concentrated on how the Pakistan skipper batted in the first inning and applied what Babar advised him ahead of the game.

Addressing the media after the game, Gurbaz said: “As a cricketer, you have to learn every day, every time, and in every league."

The Afghanistan batter added that he had a chat with the Pakistani batting maestro ahead of the match and asked him what his mindset is before the game.

The young batter said: “Earlier, I was trying to hit every ball but today I saw Babar Azam’s batting as well when he was in. I was just focused on that how he hits the boundaries.”

Rehman added that he was usually aggressive and would try to hit every ball but Babar suggested he respect the good deliveries and score on bad balls.

“Today, the one thing that I changed in my batting was that I also focused on some strike rotation as well before I was just trying to hit too hard and you know take some advantage from the circle but today my focus was also in some cricket good cricket shots not only power so yeah, as I mentioned that we are we had chat about it before the match me and Babar. I just applied that it helped me a lot,” he said.

Replying to a question, Gurbaz said that the quality of cricket in PSL is also a little bit different from other leagues because of the bowling quality it has to offer.

He added that playing in PSL would help him as Afghanistan plays with Pakistan after the conclusion of the series.