Speaking exclusively with PakPassion.net the Sialkot Stallions coach and former Pakistan all rounder Naved Anjum spoke of his delight at coaching a team that will be Pakistan’s first representatives at the Champions League.

by Saj Sadiq (6th October 2012) 

Pakistan’s first representatives in the upcoming Champions League T20, the Sialkot Stallions jet off this weekend to South Africa ahead of a warm up match against Yorkshire on 7th October and then qualifying matches against Auckland on 9th October and Hampshire on 11th October. If Sialkot can overcome Auckland and Hampshire and top their qualifying group, they will qualify for the main part of the Champions League which commences on 13th October.

The Stallions led by experienced international all rounder Shoaib Malik are seasoned campaigners in the Twenty over format having been the stand out team in twenty over competitions in Pakistan in recent times and have been Twenty20 champions in Pakistan on seven occasions. The Sialkot squad boasts a number of exciting young cricketers such as 20 year old left arm spinner Raza Hasan who impressed in international colours at the World T20 in Sri Lanka recently. In addition two young batsmen who are likely to catch the eye are 23 year olds Haris Sohail and Ali Khan. Sohail is an elegant left handed batsman who greatly impressed in the Faysal Bank T20 competition particularly with his composure and technique and Khan is a big hitting top order batsman who came through the ranks at KRL. In addition to the impressive youngsters, experienced players like Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Ayub and Rana Naved ul Hasan will be expected to form the backbone of the squad.

Speaking exclusively with PakPassion.net the Stallions coach and former Pakistan all rounder Naved Anjum spoke of his delight at coaching a team that will be Pakistan’s first representatives at the Champions League, how preparations have gone ahead of the tournament in South Africa bearing in mind that it’s the off season in Pakistan cricket, what Sialkot’s realistic aims are at the Champions League and how much his team will miss spinner Abdur Rehman.

“It’s an honour to be coaching the first Pakistani team to take part in the Champions League. I take great pride in that achievement and it’s fantastic for Sialkot and the whole of Pakistan and Pakistani cricket lovers that we have been given the responsibility of representing Pakistan at the Champions League. It’s a huge honour for the players, coaches and all of the backroom staff and we cannot wait to get to South Africa and start playing some good cricket out there.”

Speaking of how preparations ahead of the Champions League had gone considering it’s currently the off season for cricket in Pakistan, Anjum stated “Well our international players have had the benefit of course of featuring in the World T20 in Sri Lanka so they come into the Champions League with some competitive cricket behind them. The non international players have been practising in Lahore at a training camp for the past week where we have trained in the mornings then at night under lights at the Gaddafi Stadium. In addition most of the boys took part in camps for their respective first class domestic teams. We’ve played a number of matches under lights where all of our players have been given a chance against some strong teams made up of players from Lahore. The Pakistan Cricket Board has been very supportive with our preparations.”

The Sialkot squad arrives in South Africa today and will play their only warm up match against Yorkshire on Sunday. The format of the tournament in Anjum’s view means that Sialkot will have to hit the ground running and has no scope for error.

“There is absolutely no chance of easing yourself in the tournament. We simply have one warm up match to get used to the conditions against Yorkshire, then 2 days later we go straight into the tournament knowing that we have to win both matches against Auckland and Hampshire. We’ve prepared well and thoroughly and have watched videos of both Auckland and Hampshire so we know what to expect from both teams.”

“Our aim is simple and that is to get through the qualifying round and take part in the main tournament. On our day I feel we have the players to defeat any of our opponents, so if we can get through the qualifying round then anything is possible in the main tournament. Pakistan’s domestic cricket standard is very high and we have qualified for the Champions League T20 after an extremely hard fought tournament earlier this year. Whilst we are happy to be taking part in this tournament, we want to make sure that we represent Pakistani cricket to the best of our abilities and show Pakistani cricket in a positive light.”

Sialkot suffered a huge blow ahead of the Champions League when experienced spinner Abdur Rehman failed a drugs test whilst playing for Somerset and was subsequently banned from all cricket for twelve weeks. Anjum admitted that the loss of Rehman was a big loss to the team but not one that they couldn’t overcome.

“Not being able to select (Abdur) Rehman for the Champions League is a very big loss to us. He is an experienced cricketer and we all know what talents he possesses when bowling in all formats. He would have been a certainty to bowl four good overs for us in each match and is a useful late order batsman also. However I think that Rehman’s loss is an opportunity for someone else within the squad to impress. I’m sure that we can overcome losing Rehman in the Champions League as I’m certain that whoever replaces Rehman in the side will not let anyone down.”

Sialkot are in Qualifying Pool 1 alongside Auckland and Hampshire, whilst Qualifying Pool 2 sees Trinidad & Tobago, Yorkshire and Uva Next battle it out for a place in the main tournament. Following the qualifying matches, the main tournament starts on 13th October with the final due to take place on 28th October at Johannesburg.

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