Junaid living his dream playing under Akram

Junaid Khan of Multan Sultans, who produced a sensational hat-trick to ensure his team’s 43-run win over Lahore Qalandars in their Pakistan Super League (PSL) match on Friday night, says that he will remember the day all his life. When asked whether his hat-trick was a dream-come-true, he said: “My real dream was to be with Wasim Akram [the legendary left-arm pacer who is the director of Multan team]. I value being with him more than the hat-trick.”

Akram, an all time great and Junaid’s inspiration, had bagged two hat-tricks in the UAE during the Sharjah Cricketers Benefit Fund Series. He had bagged hattricks against West Indies in 1989 and against Australia in 1990 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Junaid’s hat-trick is only the second instance of a hattrick in the PSL after Mohammad Amir’s feat in 2016.

Junaid removed Yasir Shah, Cameron Delport and Raza Hasan in succession as Lahore lost seven wickets for the addition of four runs.

Khan is delighted with his comeback as he was ruled out for four weeks due to stress fracture to his foot ahead of Pakistan’s tour to New Zealand in December.

Akram does not want to be carried away by the two successive victories or even Junaid’s hat-trick, though he was on his feet cheering for Junaid when he took the hat-trick. “We wanted to slow down the momentum, and immediately after the strategic timeout luckily for us Umar Akmal got out. Junaid then had his hat-trick. Everything is shaping well. It is a long tournament and it is too early to say what will happen,” he said.

Multan Sultans bt Lahore Qalandars by 43 runs.

Multan Sultans 179 for 5 in 20 overs (Kumar Sangakkara 63, Ahmad Shehzad 30, Shoaib Malek 48, Mustafizur Rahman 2 for 22) vs Lahore Qalandars 136 in 17.2 overs (Fakhar Zaman 49, Sunil Narine 26, Umar Akmal 31, Sohail Akhtar 21, Junaid Khan 3 for 24, Mohammad Irfan 2 for 19, Imran Tahir 3 for 27, Kieron Pollard 2 for 28)

Imran Tahir.

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