PSL 2023: Sam Billings heaps praise on Lahore Qalandars skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi

KARACHI: Lahore Qalandars wicketkeeper-batter Sam Billings heaped praise on skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi for his leadership skills during the eighth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

“What struck me is how quickly he picks up the game. Especially for a young captain and a bowler as well, he's got a lot on his plate but how he's dealing with it. He's very cool, calm, collected character. And he loves the challenge. It's fantastic, his skills that he's shown all throughout this tournament hopefully he can lead us to another title,” Billings said.

The Englishman previously represented Islamabad United in PSL 1 and PSL 2, but this time he is in Lahore’s dugout and playing in Pakistan for the first time.

The in-form cricketer said that he is loving this experience of playing in Pakistan.

“The grounds are good, nice wickets to bat on and you get such good value with the outfields as well and what a team, it's a great environment to be a part of,” he said

“Playing in front of a home crowd, all our games at Lahore have been unbelievable, full crowds everywhere, obviously after the last few years with COVID and everything it is so good to play in front of crowds and the support we've had has been incredible. For a foreign player coming over here you realize how much cricket means to the people over here,” the wicketkeeper said.

Replying to a question, Billings said that the great thing about playing franchise-based leagues is they have their own characteristics and flavour.

“Over here you see a lot of bowlers bowling 140 plus, 150. That's something that I see this the raw ability in terms of pace. I'd say it's right up there in terms of quality and in terms of enjoyment as well. I absolutely love it,” said Sam Billings about PSL.

Billings said that it is much better to keep wickets than facing Shaheen Shah Afridi as a batsman.

“I think I can say that for most of our bowling attack. We've got Rashid [Khan], Haris [Rauf], Zaman [Khan] yeah much better being on the same team as those guys as opposed to playing against,” he said.

“He's a great character full of energy, full of positivity. And now he's a great teammate, he's a great man and very much the life of the party,” he said while talking about his teammate Haris Rauf.

When asked if he has any personal goals set for PSL 2023, the batter said that he doesn’t have any individual goals and the only thing that he aims to achieve is to help Lahore Qalandars defend their PSL title.