Abdul Qadir: ‘Will the PSL really produce a decent Pakistani batsman?’
Mohammad Nawaz and Mohammad Asghar may be household names now but only two weeks ago both were categorised as anonymous 'emerging cricketers'.
The Pakistan Super League (PSL) and a series of match-winning performances for the Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi catapulted the two players into the limelight and immediately the country rejoiced for having discovered their newest 'stars'.
Spinners Nawaz and Asghar are currently among the top five bowlers with most wickets in the PSL, but before the league is hailed as a 'big success', Pakistan must take stock of what really ails the game, according to the great Abdul Qadir.
Qadir, the legendary Pakistan legspinner, said the promise of the PSL would be hollow if the league failed in producing five 'decent' batsmen, which the national team 'desperately lacked'.
“Pakistan must realise that it has been naturally blessed with great bowlers. Show me five good local batsmen at the end of the PSL and I will concede that the league was successful,” Qadir said in an interview with Dawn.
“Otherwise, it [PSL] is just an eyewash to divert the attention of the fans from what is really wrong with Pakistan cricket.”
Currently the PSL charts are ruled by the imports with Ravi Bopara (England), Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh) and Cameron Delport (South Africa) leading the way followed by Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal.