Sohail happy to get 1st ton after knee injury
The team’s aim was to make me bat at number four because it gives you that right-hand-left-hand combination against the spinners
Haris Sohail
dubai — Pakistan left-hander Haris Sohail said it was a huge honour for him to bat at number four position for his country.
It’s a position from which normally the team’s best batsman play.
And until last year, Pakistan’s number four was none other than the iconic Younis Khan.
Sohail (110) certainly made it count with his maiden hundred that put his team in a strong position on the second day of the first Test against Australia at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
“The team’s aim was to make me bat at number four because it gives you that right-hand-left-hand combination against the spinners,” Sohail said at the press conference on Tuesday evening.
“As far as Younis (Khan) is concerned, he is a legend. It’s an honour and I will never be as good as him, but I will do my best to at least come close to him,” the 29-yearold player said.
Haris, who also played against England this year, said he learned a lot from that tour — even though he was not able to convert his starts in English conditions.
“Actually in the last series in England I was getting out in 30s. But I learned a lot from that and I have been working on converting those 30s, and thank God, that I was able to do that today,” he said.
“As I told you, I was getting out in 30s and 40s on the England tour. At times there was a good ball and at times I threw my wicket, so I wanted to get out of that panic mood and today I did that. I knew that once I get out of that phase, runs would come and that happened today.
“So it’s obviously a different excitement to get to a hundred and it’s a different feeling,” he added.
The hundred was also sweet as it came after his long battle with a serious knee injury that even required knee surgery. “It matters a lot to get this hundred, especially considering what I have gone through. When you are playing for your country and you get your first hundred it is different. I struggled with my knee and that was not in my favour, so I did a lot of hard work and got out of it,” he said.
Haris then revealed why the old ball – Australia didn’t take the new ball until 113 overs – made run scoring difficult.
“At on stage the seam of the ball was torn, they had not taken the new ball and the ball had got soft and even if you middle the ball, it was not going to cross the inner circle,” he said.
“But we knew that once they take the new ball, runs would come and it happened.”