Sajid elated at selection for SA Tests

KARACHI: Sajid Khan, an emerging off-spinner and the leading wicket-taker of the recently concluded Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, on Sunday said that he would make his best effort to live up to the billing if given a chance to represent Pakistan against South Africa in the two-match Test series.

“If I get a chance I will try to give my best,” he told a virtual news conference.

Sajid is the only specialist off-spinner in the initial 20-member Pakistan squad. The first of two-match series begins at the National Stadium from January 26.

Sajid finished the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy with 67 scalps to his credit while representing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the six-team event.

His contribution helped his side share the QT trophy with Central Punjab after the final ended in a pulsating tie here at the National Stadium early this month when Sajid took the wicket of Waqas Maqsood, held by Kamran Ghulam at mid-on.

Sajid said that he cannot express how happy he is over his selection in the 20-man squad. “I am extremely excited. I performed well and was rewarded. I feel great,” Sajid said.

Sajid is confident that he has the ability to click without doosra. “There are several spinners who are successful without doosra. And InshaAllah I will perform without doosra,” Sajid said, who follows Mohammad Hafeez and Saqlain Mushtaq as his role models.

“I don’t target any batsman of South Africa. I will bowl the way I bowled in domestic cricket. I will bowl seeing the behaviour of the wicket and will try to exploit the weak points of the batsmen,” Sajid said.

When asked if he is not picked in the final 16-man squad how he will react, Sajid said still it was a big occasion for him to have been selected in the 20-member squad.

“Coming in 20-member squad is not a small achievement. It’s a big honour for me that I have been named in the 20-man squad from the whole 200 million population. If I am sitting outside and Pakistan beat South Africa still it will be a great honour for me,” he said.

Sajid said that picking the leading performers of the domestic cricket would also motivate other youngsters and they would also try to click at the domestic level to find a place in the national team.

“Our coach Abdul Razzaq had called a meeting when the news came that I have been picked in Pakistan team. It was a proud moment for me and my whole family,” he said.

Sajid said that he would learn in the national team camp. “I will learn when I join the national team camp and share the dressing room. It will build my confidence,” the spinner said.

Sajid said that live telecast of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches helped the players.