Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Super Eight: Team comes first for SSGC’s Zakir

Individual glory is of peripheral importance for batsman as second round commences

KARACHI: In-form SSGC batsman Asif Zakir may have hit a purple patch with the bat, but he says his focus in today’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Super Eight fixture against SNGPL would be to help his team win rather than secure individual glory.

“My primary aim is to bat at a spot where I can help my team either score big or chase a target to win the game,” Zakir, who is fourth in tournament’s list of top scorers, told The Express Tribune ahead of the teams’ clash at Karachi’s SBP Stadium.

“It does feel good to be among the top-scorers of the tournament so I will try and contribute as much as I can,” he added.

SSGC won their first match of the Super Eight round against Karachi Whites last week by five wickets and will now take on SNGPL, who lost to WAPDA by 189 runs in their opening fixture — a day-night affair.

SSGC captain Fawad Alam, who reached the 10,000-run mark in first-class cricket in the last game, remains hopeful of another positive performance on the back of his team’s strong batting.

“All the players are trying to correct their individual weaknesses while we have also practised as a team for two days and remain optimistic to score big on the new pitch of SBP Stadium,” said Alam.

Meanwhile, Kamran Akmal who is the tournament’s top scorer and whose side, WAPDA, faces Karachi Whites, wants to make it to the final unbeaten but remains wary of their opponents’ young bowling attack.

“We are trying our best to come up with the best combination of bowlers and opening pair, which is very important in the four-day format,” said Akmal. “Karachi Whites are not a strong team but their young bowlers can cause some damage so we have to be wary of that.”

Elsewhere, NBP will face UBL at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad — NBP and UBL had lost and drawn to HBL and KRL respectively last week.

Meanwhile, their previous round’s opponents — HBL and KRL — will take on each other this time around.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26^th, 2016.

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