Abdullah719
T20I Captain
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2013
- Runs
- 44,825
"The feeling will be like I am on debut once again" : Fawad Alam on selection for Sri Lanka Tests
Fawad Alam at a press conference today after being selected for the SL Tests:
"It's a great feeling, I can't express it in words. I am feeling really happy to be making a comeback after such a long time"
"Performing is a blessing from Allah. I can't ever think of leaving cricket because we have families and they depend on this and function. Of course it's sad when you work hard and perform and you don't get selected but you have to look forward. I always thought that I need to perform next season and keep performing and knocking on the door. Sometime, that door will open and thanks to Allah it happened"
"I have received a lot of support and love. I think this is the result of duas (prayers). This also motivated me to not fall down and to keep working hard. I am thankful to all those people who expressed their love and support for me and please keep praying for me and supporting me so that I can do well for myself and for Pakistan"
"When a player is playing a club match even, there is pressure, same with a domestic match. There is always pressure for performance. Pressure will be there for performance, I'm making a comeback after a long time but I need to overcome that and look forward and give my best"
"I want to focus on the opportunity Allah has given me right now, I don't want to look far ahead and lose sight and focus of what I have now. I will give me 200% to perform here"
"It's great for Test cricket to be returning to Pakistan, it's good for the country. As for a possible D/N Test vs Bangladesh, these things are happening in the world and our best wishes are with PCB that their efforts bear fruit. If it happens, it will be a good experience for us"
"Lakmal is one of SL's best bowlers in Tests, he has the most wickets amongst their fast-bowlers so that will be a loss for Sri Lanka. As a team, we have to face whatever we come up against and do well"
(Former Chief Selector said you are only a domestic player like Ramprakash) "If someone is comparing me with Ramprakash, that's a big honour for me, he was a big player and played many matches for his country also. However much I've played, he played a lot more than me and made more than 100 hundreds, I don't even have half that many. I will try my best to perform and prove people wrong"
"We all have to make this event successful so that the players can take a positive message out from Pakistan. It will be beneficial for Pakistan. Other teams like WI etc. have also supported us. I think that the real cricket lovers will come to the stadium and support Test cricket"
"Being in the playing XI depends on the team's management, I am happy to be back in the squad. Wherever the management feels I can do well, they will give me a chance and I will try to perform"
"My focus right now is on the Test matches and on trying to deliver. 10 years is a long time, lots of days, hours, mins, secs, it will be difficult to discuss that time. It was a difficult time, you need motivation but when your family is with you then you get that. It's important to stay amongst good people and in gatherings where you hear positive things. If you sit with people who say negative things like this is injustice etc. (amongst friends), I didn't have any gatherings like that. My friends always motivated me to keep performing next year and to keep knocking on the door. My father always used to say that I should keep fighting and not get worried"
(Inzamam said you are a domestic player, what do you think about that) "He is one of our legends, I am not even close to him. That he said something about me, and I should reply to that - I can't do that and my parents always taught me to have respect for elders. That's his way of thinking. I will try to deliver and not focus on such things because that will bring negativity. He will always remain a legend for me, I can't reply to what he said"
"No matter who the bowlers are, it depends on the conditions. The first Test is at Pindi, if we win that and get a lead, we can put SL under pressure in Karachi so we will try to perform well and deliver"
"The feeling will be like I am on debut once again because my debut was so far in the past. Allah gave me so many records and that is a matter of honour for me. It will be like a debut, I've played 3 Tests and I will try to take this as long as I can. The feelings of the first match against SL in SL will be there again and I hope to Allah that the performance is also the same as it was that time"
"The mentality is a little different when you go to play for Pakistan. The ball, wickets etc. don't matter so much, you are focused on performances. The Kookaburra has been used in domestic after a long time and the bowlers are having a few problems because we were using Dukes and Greys which favoured bowlers before. Pacers will be helped by the Kookaburra when they put in effort but medium pacers will be troubled a bit specially after the ball becomes a bit old. This was a good challenge for the fast-bowlers, now they have to prepare for next year to perform with the Kookaburra and deliver with it. We have good fast-bowlers in Pakistan"
"When you know about weaknesses then you try to overcome them and improve. There wasn't one specific thing that was keeping me out I think. My thinking is that as a Muslim, when your name isn't going to come then many faults show up but when your name is going to come, the doors all open for you somehow and nobody can stop it from happening"
"Selectors always told me to keep performing, nobody even said there is any specific reason for my non-selection in the past. Regarding my stance, I wasn't like this when I started playing cricket. When I kept playing, I didn't know how it was changing. We didn't used to have TV analysts etc. before. Then when I saw on TV then I realised. So it became like that over a period of time. You have one coach who helps you and then you are also your own coach. You can decide how you are comfortable. By myself, I began to stand like that. In the middle, I tried to reduce it a bit but it didn't work out"
"In 2011, I went to Sri Lanka for a league and Chanderpaul was there. I spoke to him at that time, and that time there was a lot of talk about my stance. He said something really nice which I took as advice: He said people will keep talking no matter how you stand, there has been a lot of talk about my own stance but how did I stop that, it was due to my runs. So no matter how you stand, if you make runs then the same people who criticise will also applaud you, so I adopted that mindset and I stopped worrying about how I was standing. That helped me a lot as well"
Fawad Alam at a press conference today after being selected for the SL Tests:
"It's a great feeling, I can't express it in words. I am feeling really happy to be making a comeback after such a long time"
"Performing is a blessing from Allah. I can't ever think of leaving cricket because we have families and they depend on this and function. Of course it's sad when you work hard and perform and you don't get selected but you have to look forward. I always thought that I need to perform next season and keep performing and knocking on the door. Sometime, that door will open and thanks to Allah it happened"
"I have received a lot of support and love. I think this is the result of duas (prayers). This also motivated me to not fall down and to keep working hard. I am thankful to all those people who expressed their love and support for me and please keep praying for me and supporting me so that I can do well for myself and for Pakistan"
"When a player is playing a club match even, there is pressure, same with a domestic match. There is always pressure for performance. Pressure will be there for performance, I'm making a comeback after a long time but I need to overcome that and look forward and give my best"
"I want to focus on the opportunity Allah has given me right now, I don't want to look far ahead and lose sight and focus of what I have now. I will give me 200% to perform here"
"It's great for Test cricket to be returning to Pakistan, it's good for the country. As for a possible D/N Test vs Bangladesh, these things are happening in the world and our best wishes are with PCB that their efforts bear fruit. If it happens, it will be a good experience for us"
"Lakmal is one of SL's best bowlers in Tests, he has the most wickets amongst their fast-bowlers so that will be a loss for Sri Lanka. As a team, we have to face whatever we come up against and do well"
(Former Chief Selector said you are only a domestic player like Ramprakash) "If someone is comparing me with Ramprakash, that's a big honour for me, he was a big player and played many matches for his country also. However much I've played, he played a lot more than me and made more than 100 hundreds, I don't even have half that many. I will try my best to perform and prove people wrong"
"We all have to make this event successful so that the players can take a positive message out from Pakistan. It will be beneficial for Pakistan. Other teams like WI etc. have also supported us. I think that the real cricket lovers will come to the stadium and support Test cricket"
"Being in the playing XI depends on the team's management, I am happy to be back in the squad. Wherever the management feels I can do well, they will give me a chance and I will try to perform"
"My focus right now is on the Test matches and on trying to deliver. 10 years is a long time, lots of days, hours, mins, secs, it will be difficult to discuss that time. It was a difficult time, you need motivation but when your family is with you then you get that. It's important to stay amongst good people and in gatherings where you hear positive things. If you sit with people who say negative things like this is injustice etc. (amongst friends), I didn't have any gatherings like that. My friends always motivated me to keep performing next year and to keep knocking on the door. My father always used to say that I should keep fighting and not get worried"
(Inzamam said you are a domestic player, what do you think about that) "He is one of our legends, I am not even close to him. That he said something about me, and I should reply to that - I can't do that and my parents always taught me to have respect for elders. That's his way of thinking. I will try to deliver and not focus on such things because that will bring negativity. He will always remain a legend for me, I can't reply to what he said"
"No matter who the bowlers are, it depends on the conditions. The first Test is at Pindi, if we win that and get a lead, we can put SL under pressure in Karachi so we will try to perform well and deliver"
"The feeling will be like I am on debut once again because my debut was so far in the past. Allah gave me so many records and that is a matter of honour for me. It will be like a debut, I've played 3 Tests and I will try to take this as long as I can. The feelings of the first match against SL in SL will be there again and I hope to Allah that the performance is also the same as it was that time"
"The mentality is a little different when you go to play for Pakistan. The ball, wickets etc. don't matter so much, you are focused on performances. The Kookaburra has been used in domestic after a long time and the bowlers are having a few problems because we were using Dukes and Greys which favoured bowlers before. Pacers will be helped by the Kookaburra when they put in effort but medium pacers will be troubled a bit specially after the ball becomes a bit old. This was a good challenge for the fast-bowlers, now they have to prepare for next year to perform with the Kookaburra and deliver with it. We have good fast-bowlers in Pakistan"
"When you know about weaknesses then you try to overcome them and improve. There wasn't one specific thing that was keeping me out I think. My thinking is that as a Muslim, when your name isn't going to come then many faults show up but when your name is going to come, the doors all open for you somehow and nobody can stop it from happening"
"Selectors always told me to keep performing, nobody even said there is any specific reason for my non-selection in the past. Regarding my stance, I wasn't like this when I started playing cricket. When I kept playing, I didn't know how it was changing. We didn't used to have TV analysts etc. before. Then when I saw on TV then I realised. So it became like that over a period of time. You have one coach who helps you and then you are also your own coach. You can decide how you are comfortable. By myself, I began to stand like that. In the middle, I tried to reduce it a bit but it didn't work out"
"In 2011, I went to Sri Lanka for a league and Chanderpaul was there. I spoke to him at that time, and that time there was a lot of talk about my stance. He said something really nice which I took as advice: He said people will keep talking no matter how you stand, there has been a lot of talk about my own stance but how did I stop that, it was due to my runs. So no matter how you stand, if you make runs then the same people who criticise will also applaud you, so I adopted that mindset and I stopped worrying about how I was standing. That helped me a lot as well"
