LAHORE: Uncapped opening batsman Ahsan Ali termed his selection in the Pakistan T20 side like a dream come true and he wants to cement a place by giving outstanding performance, whenever the opportunities arrive.

Talking to media on the second day of national training camp at the Gaddafi Stadium for the upcoming three T20 matches home series against Bangladesh here from Jan 24 to 27, The 26-year-old said: ”First of all I thank to God for providing me such a big opportunity which is like a dream come true.

“I am not feeling any sort of pressure and now am just setting a target to cement a regular place with my good performance, whenever I get the chance,” said Ahsan, the right-hand batsman from Karachi.

Ahsan, who had played for Quetta Gladiators in the PSL 2019 edition and scored 178 runs in eight matches at 22.25, said the night before the squad selection he couldn’t sleep just because he was expecting the ‘good’ news.

“And when I heard my name announced in the squad the next day I was so excited that I just can’t express here,” he said.

He said star Indian batsman Rohit Sharma was his favourite and he had his own game-plan to retain the place in the team on performance to play the T20 World Cup, to be staged in Australia later in the year.

Ahsan claimed Pakistan captain Babar Azam is a great batsman and that’s why is the top-ranked in the world in T20 format, while adding it would be a proud moment for him to play alongside the Pakistan captain as it would help to learn more finer points of the game.

Ahsan revealed he is not a big hitter since he prefers to play his shots according to the match situation.

The uncapped player said his fitness level has improved to a new level at the NCA.

Meanwhile, Ahsan pointed out it is also a great opportunity for him that he made the squad when Pakistan would be playing on home ground and appealed to the foreign cricketers that Pakistan is a safe country and they should come here to play and enjoy.

Ahsan has amassed 1,114 runs in 23 first-class matches at 27.85 with three centuries, while in 38 List A fixtures he made 1,045 runs at 28.24 with struck one century and in 41 T20 games, Ahsan has scored 949 runs at 23.72 with five half-centuries.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2020