KARACHI: Holders Quetta Gladiators are in a must-win situation. They have to beat Karachi Kings and that too with a big margin on Sunday (today) if they are to create semi-finals chance for themselves.
Gladiators-Kings game will be held here at the National Stadium at 7pm on Sunday. Gladiators assistant coach and former Pakistan’s solid allrounder Abdul Razzaq hopes his outfit can progress to the knock-out stage. “Definitely hope is there,” Razzaq told reporters here at the National Stadium on Saturday. “The way Lahore lost their previous game, if they lose their last game also and Islamabad also lose their game today to Karachi Kings then we can qualify if we beat Karachi Kings tomorrow,” Razzaq said.
Till filing of the story only Multan Sultans had qualified for the knock-out stage. As the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) replaced the play-offs with semi-finals on Friday the event has turned more interesting.
Razzaq said that his unit should learn from the results so far. “We will not blame travelling for our below-par performance. It’s T20 cricket. It depends on momentum right from the start. For the last four years, Quetta had got momentum and used to finish at the top. These are things which should be learnt. And it should be examined where we have weaknesses and next time such things should not happen. It’s very important for the players to perform,” Razzaq stressed.
When asked if he could bring back the rhythm of Pakistan pacer Hasan Ali, if he was given a coaching role, Razzaq said players suffer when they lose focus. “You know cricket demands hard work. If a player does not work hard then his downfall starts. If you work hard then if you bowl a bad delivery, still you get a wicket. Our youngsters should learn this. Cricket is not only for money. Money will come automatically if you work hard,” Razzaq said.
Hasan is playing for Peshawar Zalmi in the ongoing PSL.
The PSL, being held for the first time entirely in Pakistan, has been hit hard by the fear of coronavirus as over a dozen top foreign players and officials have withdrawn from the remaining action. But Razzaq said that despite all this the event is still very successful. “Foreign players have a key role in making the PSL successful. I hope that coronavirus will end soon and cricket will be restored. Still PSL is very successful and next year it will further improve,” said Razzaq, who played 46 Tests and 265 ODIs for Pakistan during his illustrious career.
“Naturally PSL was heading successfully when coronavirus issue emerged. And you know that most of the world cricket events got postponed. But the credit goes to the PCB for skillfully shortening the event in order to wrap it up successfully,” said the 40-year-old.
