The Rawalpindi Rams surprised many and impressed all at the recently concluded Faysal Bank Super 8s Cup in Faisalabad. They weren't amongst the favourites but played an exciting brand of cricket that ultimately took them to glory.

Speaking exclusively to PakPassion.net, the Rams' success according to their Coach Sabih Azhar was built on teamwork, meticulous planning and going into the tournament with the sole aim of winning it.

"Our discussions prior to the tournament were centred on lifting the Trophy. We had no plans to be there in Faisalabad just to make up the numbers."

Rawalpindi's journey to the final was not a straight forward one and their opening encounter was a nine run defeat to the team that they eventually beat in the final. Azhar though felt that the huge confidence boost the squad received was due to the win against a highly fancied Lahore Lions side in the semi final.

"The semi final was a high pressure match against Lahore. Not many people gave us a chance, but we'd prepared the boys well. We felt that there was less pressure on our side as the Lahore side was a star studded line up and were expected to make the final, whereas our squad was made up of some boys who were playing in their first domestic Twenty20 competition."

"We were focussed and ready. The backroom staff and myself, concentrated largely on emphasising the need to be mentally ready for the semi final and final and that the rest would follow. On any given day in this format of the game anything can happen, we felt that if we concentrated on getting the boys mentally ready, we would stand a good chance against both Lahore and Karachi."

The electrifying tournament culminated in an exhilarating finale with the scores tied and the game being decided on the outcome of the Super over. Azhar explained that there were two bowlers in mind to bowl the Super over for Rawalpindi, but for tactical reasons they opted for young left arm spinner Raza Hasan.

"We weren't expecting the match to go to the Super over, but when the scores were tied, we had two options to bowl the all important over, skipper Sohail Tanvir volunteered as he felt he could handle the pressure, but when we looked at the batsmen for Karachi that we expected to bat during the Super over, we felt they were more suited to facing the quicks rather than a spinner. When I spoke with Raza (Hasan) and Sohail (Tanvir), Raza was confident that he could handle the pressure. Raza stated that if the Rawalpindi batsmen could score ten runs, then he could restrict the opposition to below that. I looked at Raza and listened to what he said and I had faith in him and his confident and positive mindset. Another underlying factor was that the ball that was going to be used was 21 overs old and it was going to be the 42nd over that was going to be bowled on the pitch, so putting all these things into the equation, we settled for the spinner Raza to bowl the Super over."

Having scored 16 runs in the Super over, Azhar was confident that Raza Hasan could restrict the Karachi batsmen despite the first delivery from Hasan sailing over long on.

"The first ball six did not worry me as I knew that Karachi would have to take chances and that when they took chances, it would be to our benefit. Also when Shahzaib came to the crease, I knew that he would not be able to hit Raza either to, or over the boundary."

The Rawalpindi squad contained only a few familiar names in their lineup compared to their illustrious opponents, but Azhar feels that unity and teamwork were the key components of their success.

"The win for Rawalpindi proves that you don't win tournaments when you just have eleven individuals competing. To win tournaments you have to have one team and all the squad pulling in the same direction - all of your players have to contribute and be disciplined. To win the Faysal Bank Cup was a dream come true for me and it was a goal I had set for myself as a coach. The Twenty20 competition in Pakistan is fast becoming the premiere tournament in Pakistan and to win this tournament was just fantastic, for me, my squad, all the backroom staff and for Rawalpindi. A lot of credit has to go to captain Sohail Tanvir, all the players, including the reserve players. A coach can only guide the players, at the end of the day it's the players who have to perform on the field and they certainly did that. I'm so proud of all of them."

Pakistan cricket is not renowned for planning but Azhar added that he and his backroom staff and captain left nothing to chance and carefully planned for each opposition player.

"We took the pre-match planning very seriously and professionally. We did not want to leave anything to chance and looked closely at each of the opposition players, whether they were batsmen or bowlers. We sat down with the squad and analysed the opposition and gave our players feedback and advice on what they should be looking to do. We told our bowlers which areas, which lengths they should be looking to bowl to the opposition batsmen such as Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal, Rameez Raja etc, as well as advising our batsmen on what should be the scoring areas they should look for against the opposition bowlers. The strategy was clear for all of our players and there was no confusion in applying that strategy. The statistics show that the planning worked, as the opposition only passed 150 once throughout the tournament, and that was in the final. The inexperienced bowling lineup really deserves a lot of credit."

The Faysal Bank tournament was played in front of packed houses in Faisalabad, despite a number of high profile players missing from the competition. Azhar congratulated the Pakistan Cricket Board for a well organised and hugely successful tournament.

"It was a brilliant tournament, full credit goes to the Pakistan Cricket Board and the fans in Faisalabad who supported the tournament. The tournament proved that the people of Pakistan love their cricket and want to see good cricket, despite some of the leading players not taking part in the tournament. You won't see a better advertisement for Pakistani cricket than the final itself. It was a high quality final and a high quality tournament, thoroughly enjoyed by the players, officials and the crowds. We've seen a lot of promising young talent and hopefully this tournament is the start of the renaissance of Pakistan cricket."