Faf du Plessis "Every guy doesn’t have to have a six-pack to become a successful cricketer"
Quetta's position in the PSL
First and foremost it’s just great to see the PSL continuing. It was unfortunate what happened but that’s the days we are living in right now so it’s just great to be back as part of the PSL even in a different country. I’ve got some fond memories of Abu Dhabi and it was not so long ago that I was here with the IPL. We find ourselves in a position where we wouldn’t like to be but at the end of the first part of the competition I felt we started to play our best cricket. Also the teams have changed a lot so even the teams that were looking strong at the top of the table will have had a lot of changes because of Covid-19 and the availability of overseas players. It’s almost like it’s a new tournament and we cannot afford to start slow, we have to start in a winning way where we hit the ground running from the first game and get some momentum on our side.
Good signs from Quetta
I felt in the first half of the tournament we either batted really well or we bowled really well. It was only the last game where we put it all together and put a complete performance in. The way our spinners bowled in that match really excited me and was missing in the first couple of matches. Wrist-spinners are a really firepower in T20 cricket. None of the teams has played in Abu Dhabi so it’s important for guys like myself to share their experience.
T20 World Cup favourites
The shorter the format, the more teams stand a chance at the T20 World Cup You have to look at West Indies when it comes to firepower and experience and the fact that they’ve brought back all their players like Bravo, Narine and Russell. It’s a super-experienced side and they cover all bases. Also India the way their T20 cricket sets up at the moment they’ve got a lot of experience and they cover all skills in their team, with good death bowlers, spinners and explosive batsmen. The 2 favourites for me right now would be India and West indies. England are also a very successful One-day side and is a strong side.
Bubble life
It’s all new times for us dealing with Covid and with bubble life. I think first it’s important to appreciate that you are getting the opportunity to play cricket as that’s the most important thing then everything else can follow. It comes with challenges, we don’t get to see much of the outside life any more and spend most of our time in the room. I’ve done quite a few bubbles in the last year and a half and it’s important that you put some plan in place and try to stay mentally healthy. I try to bring as much of the stuff that I am used to at home with me so I can set up my room as close to as it is at home. Taking my family and 2 kids to the IPL was tough. Doing quarantine in a room for 7 days with 2 kids is much harder than facing the world’s quickest bowlers with the new ball.
ICC events expansion
I think it’s great for cricket that ICC is expanding the number of teams in World Cups. The more people that are brought into the game the better it is. You can see expansion in the female game and because of that there are more kids interested in playing. If someone from a small country can do well in a World Cup and move into tournaments like the PSL and IPL then that sets them up very well.
Azam Khan and fitness
When it comes to fitness every guy has got the responsibility to improve every day and that is different for every single person. For me at an older age I don’t stop thinking about how I can improve myself as a cricketer, how can I improve my fitness and my mind. It’s just small gains all the time throughout your career and that mindset.
Azam Khan doesn’t have to look like me to be successful, just make small improvements every day, it might just be fielding right now, getting quicker to the ball and gradually putting in the work to become a better version of himself. I think it’s unfair to compare people. He’s a guy who will always be a power-hitter and hit the ball a long way and what he needs to work on is to how he can get quicker between the wickets for longer periods of time when it gets hot out there. To make sure that he’s not tired when he’s scored 20 or 30. Every guy doesn’t have to have a six-pack to become a successful cricketer. There have been greats of the game who have looked different but had the skillset to perform at international cricket. It’s about small improvements every day.
PSL strengths
The difference I see in the PSL compared to other leagues is the amount of fast-bowlers that are there. Certainly the first time I came over to the PSL I was blown away that there were 3 guys in every team who could bowl quick. Fast-bowling is really is part of the culture of Pakistan cricket. You grow up on flat wickets where you need pace to get wickets and that is the stand-out for me. In the CPL it’s about power-batsmen who can hit sixes, PSL has young talent in batting but fast-bowling is definitely the stand-out. In India the depth in batting is the strength and also spin-bowling with a lot of different varieties. You go into the nets and you face 16 or 17 year-old kid that’s bowling all the deliveries and you think this kid is good enough to play in an IPL match tomorrow. You play in all these Leagues around the world and then you compare where your own country stands. The stronger local domestic T20 tournaments are the better it is for local domestic cricket. The PSL in the long run will be hugely beneficial for Pakistan cricket.
Sarfaraz Ahmed's captaincy
I played against Safraraz for almost 10 years and every captain has their own way to get their best out of their players and from the outside I always thought Sarfaraz was screaming at his players but playing with him you see a different side and you get to see the perspective change and you see that’s his way to keep his players on top of their game. He’s on it all the time, showing his emotions and that’s what you ask of any leader to be himself. When I captain, I’m not going to try to captain like Sarfaraz and when he captains he’s not going to try to captain like me. It’s important that you have your own style and as long as your style is to get the best out of your players then that’s good. He’s got the best out of his players as he was captain for so long and they also won a Champions Trophy. I enjoy playing under different captains and it’s really good to see the different perspectives, whether that’s Dhoni or Graeme Smith or Sarfaraz or Steve Smith, it’s what about makes them tick and what makes them get the best out of the players.
The power of T20 leagues
T20 leagues are a threat for the national game. The power of the leagues is growing year by year and they are getting stronger. It’s important that going forward we try and see how best you can co-exist because if it becomes a choice in the future then it can be a real threat for the international game. We saw the West Indies lose a number of players to T20 leagues and we have also seen it happen with South Africa. There needs to be a way where you can work with both otherwise the strength of T20 leagues is insanely strong and is potentially a danger for international cricket.
Quetta's position in the PSL
First and foremost it’s just great to see the PSL continuing. It was unfortunate what happened but that’s the days we are living in right now so it’s just great to be back as part of the PSL even in a different country. I’ve got some fond memories of Abu Dhabi and it was not so long ago that I was here with the IPL. We find ourselves in a position where we wouldn’t like to be but at the end of the first part of the competition I felt we started to play our best cricket. Also the teams have changed a lot so even the teams that were looking strong at the top of the table will have had a lot of changes because of Covid-19 and the availability of overseas players. It’s almost like it’s a new tournament and we cannot afford to start slow, we have to start in a winning way where we hit the ground running from the first game and get some momentum on our side.
Good signs from Quetta
I felt in the first half of the tournament we either batted really well or we bowled really well. It was only the last game where we put it all together and put a complete performance in. The way our spinners bowled in that match really excited me and was missing in the first couple of matches. Wrist-spinners are a really firepower in T20 cricket. None of the teams has played in Abu Dhabi so it’s important for guys like myself to share their experience.
T20 World Cup favourites
The shorter the format, the more teams stand a chance at the T20 World Cup You have to look at West Indies when it comes to firepower and experience and the fact that they’ve brought back all their players like Bravo, Narine and Russell. It’s a super-experienced side and they cover all bases. Also India the way their T20 cricket sets up at the moment they’ve got a lot of experience and they cover all skills in their team, with good death bowlers, spinners and explosive batsmen. The 2 favourites for me right now would be India and West indies. England are also a very successful One-day side and is a strong side.
Bubble life
It’s all new times for us dealing with Covid and with bubble life. I think first it’s important to appreciate that you are getting the opportunity to play cricket as that’s the most important thing then everything else can follow. It comes with challenges, we don’t get to see much of the outside life any more and spend most of our time in the room. I’ve done quite a few bubbles in the last year and a half and it’s important that you put some plan in place and try to stay mentally healthy. I try to bring as much of the stuff that I am used to at home with me so I can set up my room as close to as it is at home. Taking my family and 2 kids to the IPL was tough. Doing quarantine in a room for 7 days with 2 kids is much harder than facing the world’s quickest bowlers with the new ball.
ICC events expansion
I think it’s great for cricket that ICC is expanding the number of teams in World Cups. The more people that are brought into the game the better it is. You can see expansion in the female game and because of that there are more kids interested in playing. If someone from a small country can do well in a World Cup and move into tournaments like the PSL and IPL then that sets them up very well.
Azam Khan and fitness
When it comes to fitness every guy has got the responsibility to improve every day and that is different for every single person. For me at an older age I don’t stop thinking about how I can improve myself as a cricketer, how can I improve my fitness and my mind. It’s just small gains all the time throughout your career and that mindset.
Azam Khan doesn’t have to look like me to be successful, just make small improvements every day, it might just be fielding right now, getting quicker to the ball and gradually putting in the work to become a better version of himself. I think it’s unfair to compare people. He’s a guy who will always be a power-hitter and hit the ball a long way and what he needs to work on is to how he can get quicker between the wickets for longer periods of time when it gets hot out there. To make sure that he’s not tired when he’s scored 20 or 30. Every guy doesn’t have to have a six-pack to become a successful cricketer. There have been greats of the game who have looked different but had the skillset to perform at international cricket. It’s about small improvements every day.
PSL strengths
The difference I see in the PSL compared to other leagues is the amount of fast-bowlers that are there. Certainly the first time I came over to the PSL I was blown away that there were 3 guys in every team who could bowl quick. Fast-bowling is really is part of the culture of Pakistan cricket. You grow up on flat wickets where you need pace to get wickets and that is the stand-out for me. In the CPL it’s about power-batsmen who can hit sixes, PSL has young talent in batting but fast-bowling is definitely the stand-out. In India the depth in batting is the strength and also spin-bowling with a lot of different varieties. You go into the nets and you face 16 or 17 year-old kid that’s bowling all the deliveries and you think this kid is good enough to play in an IPL match tomorrow. You play in all these Leagues around the world and then you compare where your own country stands. The stronger local domestic T20 tournaments are the better it is for local domestic cricket. The PSL in the long run will be hugely beneficial for Pakistan cricket.
Sarfaraz Ahmed's captaincy
I played against Safraraz for almost 10 years and every captain has their own way to get their best out of their players and from the outside I always thought Sarfaraz was screaming at his players but playing with him you see a different side and you get to see the perspective change and you see that’s his way to keep his players on top of their game. He’s on it all the time, showing his emotions and that’s what you ask of any leader to be himself. When I captain, I’m not going to try to captain like Sarfaraz and when he captains he’s not going to try to captain like me. It’s important that you have your own style and as long as your style is to get the best out of your players then that’s good. He’s got the best out of his players as he was captain for so long and they also won a Champions Trophy. I enjoy playing under different captains and it’s really good to see the different perspectives, whether that’s Dhoni or Graeme Smith or Sarfaraz or Steve Smith, it’s what about makes them tick and what makes them get the best out of the players.
The power of T20 leagues
T20 leagues are a threat for the national game. The power of the leagues is growing year by year and they are getting stronger. It’s important that going forward we try and see how best you can co-exist because if it becomes a choice in the future then it can be a real threat for the international game. We saw the West Indies lose a number of players to T20 leagues and we have also seen it happen with South Africa. There needs to be a way where you can work with both otherwise the strength of T20 leagues is insanely strong and is potentially a danger for international cricket.
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