Azhar confident United will beat Kings today

KARACHI: Islamabad United head coach Azhar Mahmood has said that his charges will be looking for a winning start to the HBL PSL 8 when they take on Karachi Kings here at the National Stadium on Thursday (today).

“We will try to make a winning start tomorrow against Karachi Kings,” Azhar told a pre-match news conference here at the National Stadium. “We are fully prepared. Karachi Kings have lost their first game and will be under pressure a little bit,” he said.

Azhar said that they have prepared well for the event. “Our preparation is good as most of the players have been playing consistent cricket. The foreign players as well as the local players were involved in different leagues. They are all ready and waiting for tomorrow’s game,” Azhar said.

“Paul Stirling, Colin Munro, Rassie van der Dussen, Tom Curran and Gus Atkinson are available for tomorrow’s match,” Azhar said.

“It will be easy for us to form playing XI this season. When we play at different venues we will consider which bowler will be able to prove better for the team. Cricket is played in the ground and not on paper. We have to play well to win,” Azhar stressed.

He said that spin will play a massive role. “Spin will play a massive role. Our skipper (Shadab) is one of the best leg-spinners in the world. We have all kinds of varieties including left-arm spinner. We have a finger spinner in Abrar who did so well recently in Test matches. We will see which player we have to play against which opposition. Our spin department covers so many things,” Azhar said.

He did not agree when a reporter said that United had not been impressive under Shadab’s captaincy. “I think Shadab was always one step ahead in matches which we have played so far. Last year we played 26 players. Our main strength was not in the park and if still you go to the playoffs it shows your team is doing well and your captain is right.

Shadab is very talented and he knows cricket and he can be a very good captain,” said Azhar, a former international all-rounder.

Azhar said that they want their fielders to do well in the event. “We are focusing on this area and want our fielding to appear prominent in this tournament because a crucial catch and a crucial run-out can change the game,” he said.

Azhar wants United to win a title under his coaching. “In 2016 I was part of this team when we won the title. I will try to make this team champions again. It would be a proud moment for me if this team reclaimed the title under my coaching,” Azhar said.

Meanwhile, after losing their opener against Peshawar Zalmi by just two runs on Tuesday, Kings rested on Wednesday.

Karachi Kings: Andrew Tye, James Fuller, Imran Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi, Matthew Wade, James Vince, Imad Wasim (captain), Mohammad Amir, Shoaib Malik, Haider Ali, Aamer Yamin, Mir Hamza, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Akhlaq, Mohammad Umer, Tayyab Tahir, Qasim Akram, Irfan Khan Niazi, Ben Cutting, Musa Khan, Adam Rossington, Faisal Akram.

Islamabad United: Alex Hales, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shadab Khan (captain), Asif Ali, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Colin Munro, Paul Stirling, Rumman Raees, Sohaib Maqsood, Hassan Nawaz, Zeeshan Zamir, Moeen Ali, Mubasir Khan, Rassie van der Dussen.