‘Every player dreams of playing against India’
dubai — The Pakistan Super League (PSL), for all intents and purposes, came into being not to rival the IPL but to tap the talent that lay hidden in Pakistan, talent that was yet to find a voice and place to be heard.
And one to come through from that has been Faheem Ashraf, a handy all-rounder in the mould of Abdul Razzaq.
Having become a part of the Pakistan set-up, the 24-year-old will be one of the key men as Pakistan do battle in the Asia Cup in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Coming on the back of a careerbest 5-22 against Zimbabwe in July, Faheem is raring to have a go when Pakistan play Hong Kong in their tournament opener on Sunday. But on the back of his mind is the clash against old nemesis India, who they square off against at the ‘Ring of Fire,’ the Dubai International Cricket Stadium next Wednesday.
And although Virat Kohli will be sorely missed, handing over the captaincy duties to Rohit Sharma, Faheem felt India will still be a handful and was looking forward to the encounter.
“We are working really hard to try and adapt to local conditions. Every player on the team dreams of playing against India and performing well, I hope I can also get this chance,” said Faheem.
“India, even without Virat Kohli, are a world-class team and we cannot take them lightly. We are putting in our hundred percent, in all departments be it batting, bowling or fielding. Our job is to give our best and then we have every chance of winning,” he added.
The UAE has been something of a home for Pakistan’s nomadic cricketers and while Faheem said they will have the ‘home’ advantage, there will also be added pressure to do well because of that. “We play all our series here so it is an advantage for us. But this is a big event, and there is a lot of pressure and we will give our hundred percent to all matches,” felt Faheem.
Even though the sweltering and harsh UAE summer is on its way out, it is still quite hot and humid. And Faheem said that their camps in Lahore and Abbottabad have helped them adjust to the conditions.
“We had a camp in Lahore for a week and before that in Abbottabad with the army. We had the camp during intense heat and we did that to replicate the conditions that we will face in Dubai and get adjusted to it. And I hope that will help us during the tournament,” he said.