RAWALPINDI: Peshawar Zalmi captain Babar Azam seemed a bit disheartened over the loss of his team despite scoring a mammoth 240, which also included his maiden PSL century, against Quetta Gladiators on Wednesday.
Babar said his side’s bowling was not up to the mark in the game and they conceded more than 12 runs per over throughout the innings.
“We couldn’t bowl up to the expectations,” said Babar in a post-match conference after Gladiators sealed a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Zalmi in a high-scoring match of the Pakistan Super League season 8.
Quetta’s hard-hitting opener Jason Roy was invincible as he smacked a phenomenal 63-ball 145 to single-handedly crush Zalmi in the match.
“We applied everything in our bowling. But he (Jason Roy) was simply outstanding” confessed Babar.
However, Zalmi’s captain did not shy away from accepting their own mistakes with the ball and shared the blame equally on both – Roy’s blitz as well as Zalmi’s poor bowling – for the defeat of his team.
“We could not execute what we planned. You can say it was fifty-fifty. 50 per cent credit goes to his (Roy’s) innings and 50 per cent to our own bad bowling” he said.
“It is not just he played extraordinarily but we made mistakes too,” he added.
Furthermore, Babar stated that the next two matches will be crucial for the Zalmi following this defeat, as they currently sit on eight points in the standings and need at least one victory in two matches to qualify for the playoffs.
“We will sit and discuss where we can improve. God willing, we will try to score 280 in the next match” he quipped.
Moreover, Pakistan all-format captain Babar also lauded his opening partner at Zalmi, Saim Ayub, who has impressed with his superb batting performances and picturesque shots in the tournament.
The left-hander scored 74 from 34 balls in the match before scoring 36-ball 68 the other day against Lahore Qalandars.
“The way Saim batted, it was outstanding,” said Zalmi captain.
“As a captain of the Pakistan team, I have my eyes on every top performer in the league,” remarked Babar when asked whether he was keen to give Saim a breakthrough in the national team after watching him closely.
He added all the players performing at the PSL needed to establish themselves a bit more.
“It is too early to comment on T20 World Cup 2024” he replied to a question about incorporating the top PSL performers in Pakistan’s T20I side before the mega event next year.
“We should not haste and hype the players so quickly. Let them perform for some more time” he concluded.
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