Abdullah719
T20I Captain
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2013
- Runs
- 44,825
"Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Joe Root all got a lot of support unlike me" : Ahmed Shehzad
Ahmed Shehzad speaking on TV:
"Virat Kohli is a wonderful player and a role model for youngsters. In T20, ODIs and Tests, we were going neck to neck at the start."
"But we all know how important confidence is. The one and a half year before the 2015 World Cup was very tough for me. Only the victim knows how tough the time is."
"In that period, my performances were up and down. It's not that they were bad but not as great as the expectation. If I came to listing out the reasons, then I can keep going for a while."
"If you look at Kohli, Williamson and Root, you see that they all got a lot of support unlike me. After equal matches, all of us were neck to neck. So I am very disappointed when I see others doing wonders for their country and I am still fighting for my place for God knows what reason."
"The people who are not my friends spread a lot of rumours about me. When I got the head injury against NZ the rumours affected me."
"The doctor told me that I need to go through surgery on my cheekbone - he said I would be out for 6 months. I refused to have the surgery as I was scoring a lot of runs and there were no other established openers. I said I have to go back and represent my country."
"Alhamdulillah, the next match I came I scored a century. But yes the incident overall did have some effect on me."
"In the Pakistan Cup I was by far the leading scorer. But in the next squad I was dropped out of nowhere even though I had a lot of performances before that. It was shocking for me!"
"Since then I've mostly played T20s. I have struggled a few times but I am just a human being so that happens."
"In Quaid-e-Azam trophy, I didn't have the best performances throughout but I was playing in tough conditions."
"In the side match against West Indies, I scored 70 runs then averaged 40 plus in the BPL."
"I have a lot of respect for him (Waqar Younis). He is a superstar of Pakistan. But it is not necessary that if you are a good cricketer then you are good in other things as well."
"But I don't want to say anything here and if I wanted to then I would have said something six months ago. If my discipline was bad you would have seen me on TV. I have endured everything and taken it on the chin with the support of my family. I can't tell whatever happened to me on national TV right now."
"I am invited to play all over the world. If there was a discipline with my issue or my performance was not good then I wouldn't be retained by all the teams which invite me."
"I was not dropped for performance but apparently for discipline. You can see who showed the discipline in the end. I could have said a lot of things but I did not."
"Those people who spread rumours about me should stop doing so. Masala news doesn't hurt me, my job is to play cricket. But it's problematic for the my fans who have high expectations from me and they start hearing strange rumours."
"When you're out of the team without knowing the reason why then sometimes you won't do well. You know the type of pitches we have in domestic cricket - a couple of failures aren't a big deal. Even Sachin Tendulkar would come here and fail sometimes. My hunger is there and I've been trying my best."
"There were so many 'reports' leaked about me in the media but I always stayed quiet and didn't say anything. So you can see who really showed discipline at the end of the day."
"This is my peak time. I should be achieving my goals. It hurts when this time is being wasted when no one even knows why you are not in the team. Not everyone can play till 42. I hope no one has to go through an experience this and have their prime being wasted. But I am still thankful and have faith in Allah as well as the PCB."
"I have not done things discipline wise anywhere near to what others have done."
"When you compare two people, you have to look at the background and context. Kohli is exceptional and he has an environment that everyone doesn't have. If you look at AB and McCullum, they only became big in the past 5 years or so. Before that, they were just good, utility players for the team."
"Viv Richards was a lovely person. There is a difference in thinking between him and some others we have had."
"Look at Mike Hesson. He has taken NZ team to new heights. He doesn't care for limelight. It is all about man management"
"Hesson told me that a coach is there to help and give support and comfort to the players."
"Our players cannot flourish till there is insecurity. To change our style and play modern cricket you cannot do it verbally."
"Gayle and KP are wonderful human beings. When they get along with you, it means they see something in you. I have a lot of respect for them."
"With Quetta Gladiators we were underdogs. Credit goes to team management. They had given a free hand. If players wanted practise, there would be practise and if they didn't want to practise, there was no practise."
"The combination of owners, Moin and team management had great chemistry."
"Sarfraz has good potential for captaincy. Of course he needs time but he is doing wonderful."
"Sarfraz has improved a lot. Shahid Aslam worked hard with him. He got confidence from team management and he played good innings in tough situations. He has been very consistent. This is what the management is supposed to do - give a player confidence and get the maximum out of him. If you don't get the maximum out of a player, the player is definitely at fault, but so are you."
"The Pakistani bowlers in NZ did not hit the right lengths. Either we were short or full. The new kid from NZ did that even though he had no pace."
"Our bowlers need to learn to win matches single handedly on such pitches. Look at what Wasim Akram or Shoaib bhai would have done on the pitches in NZ."
"As bowlers I like Mohammad Sami and Shoaib bhai. Shoaib bhai used to take very good care of youngsters."
Ahmed Shehzad speaking on TV:
"Virat Kohli is a wonderful player and a role model for youngsters. In T20, ODIs and Tests, we were going neck to neck at the start."
"But we all know how important confidence is. The one and a half year before the 2015 World Cup was very tough for me. Only the victim knows how tough the time is."
"In that period, my performances were up and down. It's not that they were bad but not as great as the expectation. If I came to listing out the reasons, then I can keep going for a while."
"If you look at Kohli, Williamson and Root, you see that they all got a lot of support unlike me. After equal matches, all of us were neck to neck. So I am very disappointed when I see others doing wonders for their country and I am still fighting for my place for God knows what reason."
"The people who are not my friends spread a lot of rumours about me. When I got the head injury against NZ the rumours affected me."
"The doctor told me that I need to go through surgery on my cheekbone - he said I would be out for 6 months. I refused to have the surgery as I was scoring a lot of runs and there were no other established openers. I said I have to go back and represent my country."
"Alhamdulillah, the next match I came I scored a century. But yes the incident overall did have some effect on me."
"In the Pakistan Cup I was by far the leading scorer. But in the next squad I was dropped out of nowhere even though I had a lot of performances before that. It was shocking for me!"
"Since then I've mostly played T20s. I have struggled a few times but I am just a human being so that happens."
"In Quaid-e-Azam trophy, I didn't have the best performances throughout but I was playing in tough conditions."
"In the side match against West Indies, I scored 70 runs then averaged 40 plus in the BPL."
"I have a lot of respect for him (Waqar Younis). He is a superstar of Pakistan. But it is not necessary that if you are a good cricketer then you are good in other things as well."
"But I don't want to say anything here and if I wanted to then I would have said something six months ago. If my discipline was bad you would have seen me on TV. I have endured everything and taken it on the chin with the support of my family. I can't tell whatever happened to me on national TV right now."
"I am invited to play all over the world. If there was a discipline with my issue or my performance was not good then I wouldn't be retained by all the teams which invite me."
"I was not dropped for performance but apparently for discipline. You can see who showed the discipline in the end. I could have said a lot of things but I did not."
"Those people who spread rumours about me should stop doing so. Masala news doesn't hurt me, my job is to play cricket. But it's problematic for the my fans who have high expectations from me and they start hearing strange rumours."
"When you're out of the team without knowing the reason why then sometimes you won't do well. You know the type of pitches we have in domestic cricket - a couple of failures aren't a big deal. Even Sachin Tendulkar would come here and fail sometimes. My hunger is there and I've been trying my best."
"There were so many 'reports' leaked about me in the media but I always stayed quiet and didn't say anything. So you can see who really showed discipline at the end of the day."
"This is my peak time. I should be achieving my goals. It hurts when this time is being wasted when no one even knows why you are not in the team. Not everyone can play till 42. I hope no one has to go through an experience this and have their prime being wasted. But I am still thankful and have faith in Allah as well as the PCB."
"I have not done things discipline wise anywhere near to what others have done."
"When you compare two people, you have to look at the background and context. Kohli is exceptional and he has an environment that everyone doesn't have. If you look at AB and McCullum, they only became big in the past 5 years or so. Before that, they were just good, utility players for the team."
"Viv Richards was a lovely person. There is a difference in thinking between him and some others we have had."
"Look at Mike Hesson. He has taken NZ team to new heights. He doesn't care for limelight. It is all about man management"
"Hesson told me that a coach is there to help and give support and comfort to the players."
"Our players cannot flourish till there is insecurity. To change our style and play modern cricket you cannot do it verbally."
"Gayle and KP are wonderful human beings. When they get along with you, it means they see something in you. I have a lot of respect for them."
"With Quetta Gladiators we were underdogs. Credit goes to team management. They had given a free hand. If players wanted practise, there would be practise and if they didn't want to practise, there was no practise."
"The combination of owners, Moin and team management had great chemistry."
"Sarfraz has good potential for captaincy. Of course he needs time but he is doing wonderful."
"Sarfraz has improved a lot. Shahid Aslam worked hard with him. He got confidence from team management and he played good innings in tough situations. He has been very consistent. This is what the management is supposed to do - give a player confidence and get the maximum out of him. If you don't get the maximum out of a player, the player is definitely at fault, but so are you."
"The Pakistani bowlers in NZ did not hit the right lengths. Either we were short or full. The new kid from NZ did that even though he had no pace."
"Our bowlers need to learn to win matches single handedly on such pitches. Look at what Wasim Akram or Shoaib bhai would have done on the pitches in NZ."
"As bowlers I like Mohammad Sami and Shoaib bhai. Shoaib bhai used to take very good care of youngsters."