Quaid Trophy: Babar aims to lead Multan into Super-Eight

Spinner hopeful of getting the call for South Africa tour.

KARACHI: Left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar of Multan expressed his eagerness to do well in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy to help his team go through to the Super-Eight stage.

Multan will be up against hosts Sialkot for their sixth and last league four-day match.

The 34-year-old said he would try his best to help his side to victory and is hopeful of remaining in contention for becoming a part of the national team for One-Day International and Twenty20 series against South Africa.

“The aim is to help Multan reach the Super-Eight stage and produce a top performance,” Babar told The Express Tribune. “My confidence is high after being selected for the tour of India though I didn’t get the chance to make my debut there. I want to continue building my reputation by doing well in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and hopefully the selectors will again show faith in me.”

Karachi Blues and Islamabad – who have 27 and 18 points respectively – are certain to go through to the Super-Eight from group-I while the other two places are up for grabs. Sialkot are in third position with 12 points followed by Lahore Ravi (nine), Quetta (nine), Multan (six) and Peshawar (six).

Babar said that although Multan are languishing in sixth place in their group, they have the potential to do well against top sides.

“We’ve got some good players and we just need one good solid performance.”

Group-II is already settled with Rawalpindi, Karachi Whites, Lahore Shalimar and Hyderabad all confirmed in the Super-Eights irrespective of what happens in the last round of matches.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2013.