Karachi will bounce back, says Shamsi

LAHORE: Karachi Kings left-arm wrist spinner Tabraiz Shamsi is hopeful that his team will pull off a win against Peshawar Zalmi in their HBL PSL 9 game here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday (today).

“I don’t think there is any major problem within the squad itself. We only played one game. Let’s see how we go tomorrow. You can see the boys are training hard and the oppositions also are training hard, you know, all trying to win. There will be one team which will win and inshAllah hopefully it would be us tomorrow,” Shamsi told reporters on the sideline of Kings training session here at the LCCA Ground on Tuesday.

Kings were the other day crushed by Multan Sultans by 55 runs in their opener at Multan. Asked that batting is the main problem for the Karachi Kings Johannesburg-born Shamsi said he does not think so.

“I don’t think so that there is any problem. We have played one game so far. Its T20 cricket,” Shamsi said. “I can only speak on behalf of bowlers being a bowler myself. So many days you bowl well, you don’t take wickets and you are hit for runs because batsmen play some good shots or you are unlucky. And on the other day you bowl some bad balls and pick up wickets, the guys give you catches so,” he said.

Last year Karachi Kings managed just three wins and finished overall fifth but Shamsi said its history now and it’s a fresh start for them. “Those performances are gone. We will start with the zero again. Any competition that you start you will obviously get a new management in place. The atmosphere that has been created is really good. I was not part of the team last year but you look at the result it looks very bad in the end,” Shamsi said.

“But there were four games which we lost by less than three runs or five runs. Last year what happened as we lost, crucial periods in the game by a big margin and that was the main reason we lost those games. The team is still playing well but it is a new tournament, new players, new management so and we have to start fresh whether we were champions or we finished last we know we start in the same place again,” he said.

He is impressed by the Pakistan’s local fast bowlers playing in the PSL. “PSL is one of the better standard tournament especially the local fast bowlers and stuff. We know Pakistan always produces good fast bowlers. Now in our team there are a few youngsters which no body knows about but you know they have got some skills,” Shamsi said.

“Like any country I think it’s a great platform to unearth good talented players, would not otherwise get an opportunity. If you perform in domestic cricket its one thing but if you perform in a league like this with overseas players around it definitely gives you a lot more recognition and people will take your performance more seriously,” Shamsi said.