DUBAI: You’re never unbeatable in Twenty 20 cricket. But with a right mix of process, preparation and execution - you can make yourselves very hard to beat.

When observed closely, there is a common thread that runs across the first seasons of the Pakistan Super League and its older cousin the Indian Premier League. It’s a story you’ve heard before — the underdog rising. Rajasthan Royals then, Quetta Gladiators now — two teams bought with the least investment, that weren’t heavy on pre-tournament euphoria, that weren’t high on the T20 ‘glam’ quotient and those who just weren’t the bookmakers’ favourites, eventually ended up setting an early precedent for the league.

Contests like these have a favourite, an underdog and the rest that fill up the space between. The politically correct, although aware of their standing, deflect the proposition with a template ‘you-cannot-underestimate-anyone’ response.

The truth is expectations are usually set on the first glance of the team sheet. Teams that don’t catch the eye are termed ‘outsiders’. If they’re lucky they might even get called ‘dark horses’.

The Gladiators were those ‘outsiders’ at the start of the inaugural edition of HBL Pakistan Super League. While other teams spoke of the Chris Gayle and the Shane Watson factor at the opening ceremony, Sarfraz Ahmed, the youngest and possibly the least popular of the captains in the tournament, at least at the start, highlighted the importance of instilling a sense of pride and promoting cricket in the Balochistan region, where the Gladiators are based out of. It was an honest, yet refreshing response to the team’s aspirations.

Yet he sat and waited patiently as the other captains took turns to speak about their team’s rosters and the tournament’s potential impact Games of cricket, though, are never won on paper, more so in T20s. It takes a shrewd mind to build a team, integrate the foreign players and create a vibe that is relaxed yet ambitious. The sum of the parts is always greater than the whole.

“When you have lots of cricketers coming together for a short space of time, you need to have individuals who gel together to create a happy team,” says star batsman Kevin Pietersen, who knows a thing or two about dressing room camaraderie. “You have to let individuals do whatever they want to, understand how they benefit the team and just let them enjoy themselves.”

Here’s where the team’s coach/mentor steps in. In a T20 league like the PSL with short turnaround time between games, it’s not as much about coaching as it is about general cricketing acumen and soft skills. The Gladiators’ head coach Moin Khan, not the most gifted of Pakistan’s cricketers, shines in this regard as he is considered amongst the shrewdest readers of the modern game.

The local players look up to him yet are not hesitant to approach him while the foreigners in the Quetta setup like Pietersen himself trust his know-how. One look at their pre-match training session is a clear indication of the comfort between the coach and his players.

“You cannot have a coach that does drills after drills,” Pietersen says.

“Moin is wonderful that way. What he does well is that he’s extremely relaxed. Moiny sits there... no pads, no notes. He is very articulate and clever from a cricketing sense. If he needs to say something, he will point it out instantly. But otherwise he lets us do what we want and the results are showing,” Pietersen notes.

Shane Warne adopted a very similar ‘experience sharing’ approach in his first stint with the Royals. The likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Swapnil Asnodkar and Yusuf Pathan flourished while an international star like Watson too benefited with a huge career revival. Pietersen, for one, is all for an inclusive culture that empowers every member of the side.

That Quetta skipper Sarfraz is sold on Moin’s methods bodes well for the 28-year-old, who is widely tipped to take over Pakistan’s T20I side following Shahid Afridi’s impending retirement at the end of next month’s ICC World Twenty20.

“Sarfraz has been absolutely brilliant. The way he rotates strike in terms of bowlers from each end, the brains he has got... But more than anything, he’s open to taking advice from anybody on the field. It is a wonderful skill because not many captains ask younger players or seniors. He asks anybody, no ego, no nonsense, just asks ‘what do you think’ and then makes his decisions. That’s brilliant for the team.”

The settled culture team is reflected by the points table. Despite their low-key build up to the tournament, the Gladiators have since emerged as the tournament’s team to beat. They were the first to be assured of a playoffs berth and are now guaranteed to finish in the top-two, giving them two shots at making the final.

The team has already thrown up a talent in Mohammad Nawaz, who will now travel with the senior Pakistan side for the Asia Cup and the World T20 and are said to be nurturing the future Pakistan captain. They are still some way from replicating Royals’ success story, but their narrative is already as good.

“Well, in T20 cricket, anything can happen. We can finish top of the league... no problem and then one bad night and I’m back in London the next day. Then you can have a good night and still lose the final. That’s why I don’t worry about results; I worry about the processes of getting to the goal.”

The Gladiators have ticked all the right boxes, made all the right noise. Now all that’s left is a final trophy push.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2016