Sarfraz hopes WI series will attract big crowds

KARACHI: Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed is itching to take the field against the West Indies on Sunday for the first T20I, his first international game on home soil in a decade.

“It's a very good thing that international cricket is coming back (to Karachi) after nine years. It was heartening to see the way people responded to the PSL. The credit goes to the PCB and our agencies the way they organised PSL matches,” he told reporters here at the National Stadium on Saturday.

“I am also very excited as I've last played an international game here in 2008 against India and saw the capacity crowd and now when I saw the crowd in the PSL final. The credit goes to the whole nation and I hope they will see very good cricket,” he added.

Sarfraz hoped that fans will make the three-match series as successful as last Sunday’s PSL final in Karachi.

“The way you have made the PSL successful by packing the stadium, I hope you will do the same again. I request all the people to come and support cricket. If you do the same and make this series successful more and more teams will also come to Pakistan. For me the real excitement was when the whole stadium was reciting the national anthem.

“We are very excited to play at home in Karachi, especially I am very excited to play in my home city and hopefully the whole crowd will support us we all enjoy here and play good cricket here in Pakistan,” he said.

Sarfraz hoped that his potent bowling arsenal will deliver again.“If you look at the success rate of Pakistan team over the last two years, bowlers had performed very well. Our bowlers like Amir, Hasan, Faheem, Shadab and also Usman Shinwari, who is making a comeback while we have selected two bowlers Rahat Ali and Shaheen Afridi from the PSL. I hope if we scored well while batting first our bowlers have the capability to defend the total.”

Sarfraz hoped that youngsters like Hussain Talat and Asif Ali, who are expected to make their international debuts in the series, will make their presence felt.

“It’s an opportunity for Hussain Talat and Asif Ali to show their talent if the opportunities come to them. If they play well they could be considered for longer formats too.

“We tried to select those players who performed well in the PSL. If you look at our team we have been selecting young players and try to give them full chance. We will try to give full chance to Asif Ali and Hussain Talat and whenever there's a chance we will also use Shaheen Afridi,” he said.

Sarfraz evaded a question over the issue of captaincy for World Cup 2019.“I don't know who will be the captain in 2019 World Cup, only PCB could answer it better. But what I can say is that the team is going in right direction. Except for Shoaib Malik and Hafeez Bhai, all players are young and we are carrying them. We have important tours ahead of us. We have a Test series in England, then in UAE then to South Africa and then series against Australia so I think we are going in right direction,” he said.

Asked about the fitness of key players like Imad Wasim and Rumman Raees, Sarfraz said: “I haven't spoken with Imad but what I know he has not recovered from his head and knee injuries and he is resting. I hope he will come back after making a recovery. Rumman is also going through rehabilitation, but I hope they both will recover and make a comeback.”