ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Super League (PSL) team Islamabad United’s Afghanistan cricketer Rehmanullah Gurbaz feels that franchise leagues around the world, including PSL, provides cricketers a great opportunity to learn about each other which helps them in improving their game.
In an exclusive interview to Geo News on Saturday, the top-order aggressive batter said that despite having a different batting approach, his go-to person for any tips during this PSL is Pakistan’s Babar Azam.
“Cricket is the same everywhere, basics are same and whatever is suggested by legends is almost same thing,” Gurbaz said.
“But I go to Babar Azam to understand his mind to bring more consistency in my game. Although my batting style is different from his style but I want to be as consistent as he is and that’s why I opt for his advice,” said the Afghanistan cricketer.
He added that he applied whatever Babar suggested him earlier and that helped him score big in game against Peshawar Zalmi in Karachi.
Rehman scored 62 vs Zalmi in Karachi but could amass only 71 runs in following 5 innings. Islamabad next plays Peshawar Zalmi in their last league match on Sunday and Gurbaz was hopeful of repeating the show.
However, he expressed dissatisfaction on his overall performance in the tournament.
“I did get a good start but in following games I couldn’t perform according to my team’s requirement. So, I am not fully satisfied with my performance. I hope I will do better in remaining matches and help my team win,” he said.
The 21-year-old said that he is enjoying the overall environment in Islamabad United and added that along with playing cricket for his franchise, it is also important for him to gather good memories during his time here.
“We have so many funny guys around in our team. Hassan Ali is funnier, even Fazal Haq Farooqi makes everyone laugh, I am also not too different but all we do is fun and enjoy our time around,” he said.
“I also joined their famous Roti Gang at times. We prepare our traditional cuisine, they do theirs, I bring dry fruits from Afghanistan for them, so it is a family like atmosphere with Islamabad United and Pakistani players,” said Gurbaz.
The Afghanistan cricketer said that playing league cricket around the world has helped Afghanistan cricket and the team is not weaker as it used to be.
“So many Afghanistan players are playing various franchise leagues around the world so it has helped our team grow stronger, we are not what we used to be,” Gurbaz said.
“At this stage my focus is on PSL, once the series is over then I will think about series with Pakistan but it will be a good series. If our players have learnt about Pakistani players during PSL then let’s not forget that Pakistani players would’ve learnt about our strengths and weaknesses as well,” he concluded.
Faizan Lakhani Faizan Lakhani is Deputy Editor (Sports) at Geo News.