LAHORE: Pakistan’s talented leg-spinner Usman Qadir and hard-hitting batsman Haider Ali are upbeat about putting up fine performances against South Africa in the three T20 matches series starting with the first on Thursday at the Gaddafi Stadium here.

In a virtual press conference on Tuesday, Usman - son of former Pakistan great googly bowler Abdul Qadir - said that he is keen to take as many wickets in the match as possible. “South Africa has a very good player in David Miller and I am particularly keen for his wickets among all batsmen,” he said.

Usman said High Performance Centre coach, former great Pakistan spin bowler Saqlain Mushtaq had given him fine tips during the net practice on how to grip the ball because the to dew factor could come into play at crucial time.

He said though another spinner Zahid Mahmood was in the team, it did not impose any pressure on him as he (Zahid) also made his place in the team due to a good number of domestic performances.

Haider, on the other hand, said he has also learnt a good lesson from batting consultant Mohammad Yousuf during the camp training as he told how to bring temperament in batting and how to face the bowler with ease and how to rotate the strike.

Haider said he would try to come up to the expectations of the nation with the bat like his captain Babar Azam. Haider said he was mentally ready to open the innings with Babar Azam as there was no big difference while batting as opener or as one-down. He expressed the hope Pakistan would also win the T20 series by 3-0 margin.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2021