Quetta Gladiators eye maiden PSL title

KARACHI: Eyeing maiden title victory Quetta Gladiators on Friday held a long training session here at the National Stadium for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) final which they will play on Sunday (tomorrow).

The winners of the Friday’s eliminator between two-time winners Islamabad and one-time champions Peshawar Zalmi will face Quetta Gladiators in the final.

Quetta side came to the stadium on Friday amid water-tight security as usual at around 11:30am. They kept doing work-out till 2:30pm. However their key Australian batsman Shane Watson and Dwayne Bravo of the West Indies skipped the training session. “We gave them some rest today,” Quetta Gladiators manager Azam Khan told ‘The News’. The 37-year old Queensland-born allrounder Watson has been handy with the bat for Quetta Gladiators so far, having scored 423 runs in 11 matches at a decent average of 47. He is so far leading scorer of the six-team event. His superb feat with the willow also includes four fifties.

On a warm day, Quetta troops also played football at the National Stadium before doing some catching and fielding practice on a lush green pitch of the venue on which a hefty amount was spent on its massive repairing.

Every player seemed focussed and their body language showed that they would not this time drop another key opportunity of wearing the crown. Quetta in the first two editions of the PSL faltered in the finals despite having done superbly throughout.

In the 2018 PSL Quetta had lost their eliminator against Peshawar Zalmi by just one run at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore. But this time Azam Khan said they would record title victory. “You are right we faltered twice in the finals but this time InshaAllah we will win the title,” Azam said. During training a group discussion was also held among the players and officials.

Captain Sarfraz Ahmed was also seen doing warm-up by making rounds around the ground. Although national selectors a few days ago decided to rest Sarfraz along with five other key players for the five-match One-day Series against Australia which will begin in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next week. Quetta Gladiators, on the other hand, did not follow national selectors and opted to continue taking the services of Sarfraz for the remaining PSL matches.

After juma prayers the players did some net practice in the nets of the High Performance Centre at the National Stadium. After beating former champions Peshawar Zalmi in the qualifier by ten runs the other day Quetta showed that they were now well-poised to win the final.

Quetta Gladiators are lucky to have the assistance of one of the greatest cricketers of all time Sir Viv Richards of the West Indies as mentor. He has been working, particularly, on the mental strength of the players. Quetta’s key opener Ahmed Shehzad the other day conceded that his sessions with Richards helped him rise to the occasion. Azam on Friday also re-confirmed that the Australian leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed would play the final.

Fawad had been hit in the face by a return drive from Peshawar Zalmi’s opener Imam-ul-Haq during the qualifier the other day that had left him with his one tooth broken. He was then shifted to the hospital. On Thursday he underwent gum surgery at Aga Khan hospital and was now feeling well. Fawad has taken 10 wickets in 11 matches of the PSL he has played so far with his best being 3-15.