Quetta reach Lahore, train at NCA

Captain Sarfraz Ahmed says local cricketers will play pivotal role in the final

Quetta Gladiators reached Lahore for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) final on Saturday and trained at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for their Sunday match against Peshawar Zalmi.

Quetta had earlier defeated Peshawar to reach the final on the first attempt in a one-run smash and grab win but have been hit by their first-choice foreign players not playing in the final.

The English trio of Kevin Pieteren, Luke Wright and Tymal Mills, along with South African Rilee Rossouw, all opted out of playing in the final.

In their stead, Quetta have picked Bangladesh’s Anamul Haque, South Africa’s Morne van Wyk and Richard Levi, and Zimbabwe’s Sean Ervine and Graeme Cremer for the final.

However, Gladiators skipper Sarfraz Ahmed believes it is the local players that need to step up to the ante in front of a vociferous Lahore crowd.

“The local players for both sides may well be the ones who decide the game,” he said. “The people in Lahore will be eager to see which players can perform for the national side as well, so it’s a great chance for the youngsters to shine.”

The 29-year-old was unable to stop his side from falling to a defeat in last year’s final but is upbeat about Quetta’s chances in this one.

“We lost the previous final so of course our aim is to win this time around,” he said. “What matters is what kind of cricket we play out there in the middle. We will do our best to deliver. Both sides will be going for the win so we just want to fight and give it our all.”