"When I speak to players from BD, ENG, AUS, they say that bowling in PSL is the best": Shahid Afridi

[Abdullah719]

"When I speak to players from BD, ENG, AUS, they say that bowling in PSL is the best": Shahid Afridi

HBL PSL is our brand, we have to make it successful: Afridi

Dubai, 19 February 2019:

He is one of the most colourful cricketers ever, he is the heart-throb of the crowds around the world, he is Boom Boom Afridi.

The evergreen Shahid Afridi is one of the most sought after cricketers in the HBL PSL as people come to watch him, for his sixes and boundaries and for his lively style of celebration on getting a wicket – arms-raised-fingers-pointing-towards-the-sky-feet-apart.

Arguably, it is one of the most eye-catching sights in modern day cricket, besides his towering sixes and boundaries.

The HBL PSL in its fourth year has become a top brand and is placed among the top of the leagues around the world, opines Afridi.

“I think from the first year in 2016 to the fourth year, the HBL PSL has become our brand and our identity,” said Afridi. “It is our respect. Whatever the talent is there in the Pakistan team – mostly in Twenty20s and ODIs – have been groomed in the PSL.”

Afridi rose to fame with a 37-ball hundred in a one-day international against Sri Lanka in Nairobi in 1996 – a world record then – and since has become a crowd favourite around the world. Despite retiring in 2016, Afridi has continued to play in HBL PSL and is a crowd-puller to the core.

In a glittering career, Afridi played 27 Tests, 398 one-day internationals (Pakistan record) and 99 Twenty20 internationals and helped Pakistan win the ICC World Twenty20 2009 in England.

Such is his demand that he has played for a record number of teams around the world, including Pakistan, India, South Africa, Bangladesh, Australia, Canada and the West Indies.

Fresh from guiding Comilla Victorians to the title in the Bangladesh Premier League, Afridi is now playing for Multan Sultans after featuring for Peshawar Zalmi in the first two editions of the HBL PSL and then representing Karachi Kings in the third.

“The leagues around the world are doing that purpose of finding talented players and then polishing their skills,” opined Afridi. “So far, so good, I would say for the HBL PSL and since talent is coming to the fore I can say that the HBL PSL is successful.”

Afridi urged fans to come and watch HBL PSL in big numbers.

“I want crowds to come in big numbers and PCB must also chalk out some plans to bring more and more people to the HBL PSL matches,” advises Afridi. “This is our league so we have to make this successful by coming to the grounds.

“It would be a big support for the league. It’s a big entertainment for the people, so I request people to come in big numbers. I am sure matches in Karachi and Lahore will be full-houses and we players enjoy the game when the grounds are packed.”

Afridi believes some three to four players will shine and make their mark from HBL PSL 4.

“I can see three to four players who can come and break into the national team from this year's HBL PSL,” said Afridi. “It’s the start so let them show more skills in tougher matches and before bigger crowds, so I could see how they do in that, then only I would be able to tell the names.”

Afridi places HBL PSL among the best.

“I think every league has its standard but overall when I speak to the players from Bangladesh, England and Australia they say that the bowling in the HBL PSL is the best and challenging. The best part is that they get their payments well on time and that makes a league successful and respected.

“At this age, I wait for the HBL PSL more than any other league.”

 

[Rafa]

PSL is the league with highest level of bowling [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]

 

[The cricket enthusiast]

PSL is the league with highest level of bowling [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]

you mean kamran akmal can only score against heighest level of bowling?

 

[Darkrai]

The professionals have spoken. Now, bunch of nobodies who know nothing about playing in PSL will give there irrelevant opinion on how the quality is poor. It's laughable.

 

[IAJ]

Here we go again...

 

[Major]

Lets take a look

Luke Ronchi last time around, made 4-5 quick 50s in PSL. He was the top scorer of PSL.

Was he able to land an IPL contract? Was he good enough to get one?

 

[Major]

PSL is a great league, but we are not the best, and we do not have to be the best.

I dont understand some peoples dilemma of being the best. We are good league, better than most and have survived the intial stages of uncertainty.

 

[PakPremi]

Lets take a look

Luke Ronchi last time around, made 4-5 quick 50s in PSL. He was the top scorer of PSL.

Was he able to land an IPL contract? Was he good enough to get one?

IPL has a very large pool of international players to chose from due to the financial might, lack of security concerns and the time it is played. So if they can can afford bigger name players than Luke they will go for them. That does not make Luke lesser player. There is no doubt it is much harder to score at PSL than IPL - no matter what the reasons are.

 

[Mr. Cricket]

Lol .. what method he use to check this or those so called expert. Sometimes he says PSL is best , sometimes about batting and now bowling. I don't know how this parameter help PSL . If this league is helping pak than its best for them , why these Pakistani player have to give these statement to prove it's better. This show inferiority complex.

 

[saeed5646]

Lol .. what method he use to check this or those so called expert. Sometimes he says PSL is best , sometimes about batting and now bowling. I don't know how this parameter help PSL . If this league is helping pak than its best for them , why these Pakistani player have to give these statement to prove it's better. This show inferiority complex.

Why it is so offensive .he did not have compare with any league .if he admire his league there should not be any problem

 

[saeed5646]

you mean kamran akmal can only score against heighest level of bowling?

single player performance cannot be judge with quality of a league

 

[PakPremi]

Lol .. what method he use to check this or those so called expert. Sometimes he says PSL is best , sometimes about batting and now bowling. I don't know how this parameter help PSL . If this league is helping pak than its best for them , why these Pakistani player have to give these statement to prove it's better. This show inferiority complex.

So we can say the fact you are protesting it shows inferiority complex for IPL quality ?
If there is anything good about PSL then let them be happy about it.

 

[IAJ]

you mean kamran akmal can only score against heighest level of bowling?

Not only highest quality of bowling, he has also smashed mediocre mazaydaar bowlers in the past.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Anyone making these useless 'we are the best' statements - without numbers or facts - should be immediately dismissed.

Which is what a big part of Afridi career was about.

 

[saeed5646]

Anyone making these useless 'we are the best' statements - without numbers or facts - should be immediately dismissed.

Which is what a big part of Afridi career was about.

You can provide the facts and numbers to us.

 

[Mirpur express]

Loads of but*hurt folk lol psl bowling is obviously by far the best of any Mickey mouse league

 

[barah_admi]

Without a doubt. The two best young cricketers on the planet, Shadab and Shaheen play in the PSL. Then there is Hasan, Amir, Shah and co.

I mean, even KP mentioned the quality in the PSL.

 

[srh]

bowling in PSL is best mostly because of the pitches; if PSL start making roads as pitches then the bowling in PSL will also go down hugely in quality

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

You can provide the facts and numbers to us.

Why? I am not making the argument, Afridi is.

 

[Cric Fan]

Poor pitches and retired players make them look good! nothing else!

 

[JattMaula]

Lala has spoken. No need for further debate by lesser human beings.

 

[Rana]

There is bound to be some ounce of bias if its a Pakistani player talking about his own league. Im sure that these great players would testify to their own media some day, maybe that should help resolve the debate of whether or not PSL is the toughest league for batsmen.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Dharamasala, Mohali, Eden Gardens, Wankhede, Chinnaswamy Stadium, Chepauk, Feroza kotla, Brabourne, Hyderabad stadium.. etc.. they all have their own unique characteristics. Some turn some bounce, some are faster pitches, some are true belters, some are slow. Bowlers are forced to adapt.

 

[Mamoon]

PSL is the league with highest level of bowling [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]

Afridi has indirectly admitted that the batting in PSL is not the best, which means that unless the PSL bowling is tested in a league with the best batting, it is illogical to declare it as the league with the best bowling attack. I think this logic might be too complicated for someone like Afridi.

As far as PSL's bowling is concerned, there are world class international fast bowlers on display and Pakistani bowlers are quite average. However, the slow pitches of the UAE as well as the poor quality of batting on show is a big reason why the likes of Rahat, Wahab and other average bowlers tend to do well.

People will not like to here this, but the poor overall quality of cricket that is played in the PSL has a lot to do with the fact that it is a Pakistani league and as a result, the majority of the players are Pakistani.

We are a mid-table team and there is talent crisis in Pakistan at the moment. Under such circumstances, it is very difficult to have a high quality tournament. The quality of T20 league is determined by two factors: the pool of international players and the quality of domestic players. PSL is struggling on both fronts.

 

[Mamoon]

To add to the above, PSL is the easiest league for bowlers. The matches are played across 3-4 grounds only and the conditions are by and large the same. Plus, there are very few world class international batsmen playing and the majority of the domestic Pakistani batsmen are always terrible. No wonder the likes of Rahat, Wahab etc. are doing well.

As a bowler, you have to be extremely rubbish to not perform in the PSL. Slow pitches, barely any variation in terms of conditions and low quality batsmen. This league is a godsend for the bowlers. I shudder to think how well the best international bowlers like Starc, Rabada, Cummins, Boult, Bumrah, Shami, Kuldeep, Lyon, Hazlewood etc. would do here.

 

[saeed5646]

Why? I am not making the argument, Afridi is.

Read his whole interview .he is not wrong

 

[saeed5646]

Poor pitches and retired players make them look good! nothing else!

Who force you to watch ?

 

[Hasan123]

The quality of bowling is decent but the IPL quality of bowling is higher. Rabada, Boult, Bumrah, Kuldeep, are better bowlers than anything the PSL offers. I also think the quality of pitches makes life slightly easier for bowlers.

I think the PSL is a decent league but nowhere near the IPL or BBL.

 

[Hawkeye]

PSL pitches quality is really bad.

Slow low, difficult to score on, so gives that impression.

Pak bowlers are good, yes. But others are not.

 

[Bhaijaan]

From what I have seen so far the quality of fast bowling in PSL is definitely at par or even better than BBL.

I’m spin bowling and medium pace, IPL is right up there.

 

[Markhor]

PSL is a second rate competition in all facets. The sluggish UAE pitches mean the par scores are lower than other leagues, which flatters the bowlers.

On truer wickets I'd like to see how these bowlers fare.

Also we must remember these bowlers are bowling to mediocre Pakistani batsmen, and many average overseas players.

 

[Syed1]

PSL is a second rate competition in all facets. The sluggish UAE pitches mean the par scores are lower than other leagues, which flatters the bowlers.

On truer wickets I'd like to see how these bowlers fare.

Also we must remember these bowlers are bowling to mediocre Pakistani batsmen, and many average overseas players.

Yeah average overseas batsmen like Gayle, Mcculum, ABDV, Sangakara, Roy, KP, Hales, Watson and many more

 

[The Viper]

The pitches do make scoring very difficult. In other leagues we see 180+ but not in PSL.

 

[Suleiman]

Any league where old men in their late 30s and mid 40s are scoring like they are in their prime should tell you all there is to know about the bowling quality.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

The pitches do make scoring very difficult. In other leagues we see 180+ but not in PSL.

Thats its unique thing, for bbl its baseball like sixes, ipl is high quality batting on flat pitches.

 

[Markhor]

Yeah average overseas batsmen like Gayle, Mcculum, ABDV, Sangakara, Roy, KP, Hales, Watson and many more

And legends of the game like Cameron Delport, Anton Devcich, Samit Patel, Andre Fletcher etc.

 

[Suleiman]

He has said some outrageous things in the past as well none of which had a beginning or end, or any truth.

Sachin's legs shaking, seeing himself score a 100 in a dream before scoring his 37 ball 100, and now this. He is a walking caricature and contradiction, latter of which is a good thing on his day when his performance defies his stats.

 

[Officer Barbrady]

I agree with him for once! The bowling standards are fantastic in the psl. Watching Hasan Ali, Wahab, Ibtasham, Shaheen, Rauf and Rahat in that last game was quite special.

 

[DHONI183]

"When I speak to players from BD, ENG, AUS, they say that bowling in PSL is the best": Shahid Afridi

Some of the Pakistan bowlers, spinners and pacers alike, have indeed been a treat to watch in the PSL overs the years (the likes of Wahab, Hassan Ali, Nawaz etc.), so I don´t doubt that one bit. However, I´d still bear n mind the nature of the pitches provided. Now, these slow and low pitches, irrespective of whether by nature they aid spinner, but the fact remains that then even pace bowlers don´t get hit for runs on such tracks. In a nutshell, the pitches are hard to score and to get on with the game for the batsmen, so it´s obvious that the bowlers will mostly walk back to the dressing-room with good overall figures to show. This also gives them the confidence to execute their plans as desired, because the margin for error isn´t all that merciless is it might be in quite a few tracks of other parts of the world.

The next few matches are in Sharjah though and there you can expect some runs. Either way, for a change, I don´t mind such pitches in the PSL. They in fact form the beauty of the tournament in my view, because quite often they lead to low-scoring thrillers and tight encounters. I´d take these over those matches where 180-ish totals are chased down with ease and much comfort. This is in fact why I so love the PSL!

 

[Mobashir]

To add to the above, PSL is the easiest league for bowlers. The matches are played across 3-4 grounds only and the conditions are by and large the same. Plus, there are very few world class international batsmen playing and the majority of the domestic Pakistani batsmen are always terrible. No wonder the likes of Rahat, Wahab etc. are doing well.

As a bowler, you have to be extremely rubbish to not perform in the PSL. Slow pitches, barely any variation in terms of conditions and low quality batsmen. This league is a godsend for the bowlers. I shudder to think how well the best international bowlers like Starc, Rabada, Cummins, Boult, Bumrah, Shami, Kuldeep, Lyon, Hazlewood etc. would do here.

I am not arguing that the pitches and batsmen play a part in the overall score, nore I find bowling is PSL extraordinary.

But I would like to ask a question to you, how do you explain Chris Gayle failing like this here? Even players like Roussow, Pollard, Russel etc are not as at ease in the PSL that they are in other leagues?
Too short a sample size but the same can happen to ADBV also.

 

[Mamoon]

I am not arguing that the pitches and batsmen play a part in the overall score, nore I find bowling is PSL extraordinary.

But I would like to ask a question to you, how do you explain Chris Gayle failing like this here? Even players like Roussow, Pollard, Russel etc are not as at ease in the PSL that they are in other leagues?
Too short a sample size but the same can happen to ADBV also.

Same reason why international failures like Rahat and Wahab are doing well. If they bowl in IPL, they will be decimated.

These pitches are not suitable for power-hitters. That is why most players who are good timers of the ball like Kamran, Ronchi, Babar etc. have scored runs.

de Villiers is too good a player to not fire at some stage. He has no weakness and will eventually adjust to the slowness of the wickets.

 

[Mp812]

Yeah average overseas batsmen like Gayle, Mcculum, ABDV, Sangakara, Roy, KP, Hales, Watson and many more

Five of above batsman have retired from competitive cricket. It's like top executives have retired from company and are supllementing retiremmtnincome by working as part time lecturers at local community college. Sure they are giving their best?

 

[Syed1]

Five of above batsman have retired from competitive cricket. It's like top executives have retired from company and are supllementing retiremmtnincome by working as part time lecturers at local community college. Sure they are giving their best?

The first season that Mcculum participated in the PSL he was coming on the back of one of his best ever IPL seasons.

 

[Dr_Bassim]

The wickets of PSL are not conducive to bowlers or stroke makers.

But the problem with T20 is that you have 20 overs to force the pace, hence batsmen struggle more than bowlers.

If PSL continues in Dubai, our players will become even more "tullay baaz" as compared to now.

Its not fair to compare PSL to IPL or call PSL better because conditions are vastly different for both leagues.

 

[Rana]

The wickets of PSL are not conducive to bowlers or stroke makers.

But the problem with T20 is that you have 20 overs to force the pace, hence batsmen struggle more than bowlers.

If PSL continues in Dubai, our players will become even more "tullay baaz" as compared to now.

Its not fair to compare PSL to IPL or call PSL better because conditions are vastly different for both leagues.

The Sharjah leg of the tournament will be interesting for sure.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Read his whole interview .he is not wrong

I did. He is neither right nor wrong but it's a statement unsupported by any reference, numbers anything. So it's just his sentiment and sentiments are always high during PSL. .

 

[Abdullah719]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Good effort from <a href="https://twitter.com/MultanSultans?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MultanSultans</a> again tonight but well played <a href="https://twitter.com/PeshawarZalmi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PeshawarZalmi</a>, very solid win. <br><br>I’ve never seen/faced 13 overs of reverse swing bowling like that in my 13 years of playing T20. Hats off for getting it to go so far, so early. Impressive stuff. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PSLT20?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PSLT20</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/skills?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#skills</a></p>— Dan Christian (@danchristian54) <a href="https://twitter.com/danchristian54/status/1099718877464809473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
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