Rossouw hopes to anchor Quetta Gladiators to PSL title

SHARJAH: Former South Africa batsman Rilee Rossouw will cherish for a lifetime his visit to Pakistan for last year’s playoffs and hopes to anchor Quetta Gladiators to the title in the HBL Pakistan Super League this year.

The 29-year-old, who played 36 One-Day Internationals and 15 Twenty20s in a fine career before settling in England, is a regular for Sarfaraz Ahmed-led Gladiators and was part of the Quetta side which featured in the playoffs in Lahore last year.

According to a press release, Rossouw has said he wants to play more games in Pakistan. “It was a fantastic trip and the one I would cherish for lifetime,” Rossouw told psl-t20.com. “The people in Pakistan are fanatic about cricket and they love the game. It was great that cricket was being played there and, hopefully, things turn out very well again this year as well and we play some more games in Pakistan.”

After the final in Lahore in 2017, two playoffs and the final were held in Lahore and Karachi in 2018. Eight matches are scheduled this year.

Fresh from his stint with Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League where he was top on the most runs chart with 558 in 14 matches with a whopping strike rate of 150, Rossouw hit a match-winning 67 not out against Multan Sultans to give his team a third win in as many games.

Rossouw reckons PSL in among the top leagues in the world. “Around the world, it’s (HBL PSL) pretty up there. If not the best, definitely the second best. The competition is very high and it’s good to be part of the PSL,” said Rossouw, who also plays T20 leagues in India, England and South Africa.

Rossouw said he is very excited to play more games in Pakistan.

“Yeah, like I said, I am very excited to be playing cricket again in Pakistan. Hopefully, the team goes further and gets silverware and this (first leg) is a process to that so. Hopefully, we get over that final hurdle this time around.”

Rossouw hoped the runners-up in the 2016 and 2017 PSL will win the elusive title. “If you look at the side through the years, we have the most balanced side this year,” said Rossouw of the team.

“I am not saying that the players before did not do enough, they were capable of lifting the trophy, but this year we have extra chance of

winning it. So, we need to just do what we do well and focus on that and hopefully the results will come.”

One last request Rossouw has about food in Pakistan, it needs to be less spicy! “Ha, ha ... I think the food can improve a little bit. My stomach wasn’t too well last year when I got there, so I am pretty sure that it will be different this time around,” he hoped.