BULAWAYO: Debutant leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed hailed white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan for giving him confidence that led to his match-winning bowling performance in the second ODI of the three-match series against Zimbabwe here at Queens Sports Club on Tuesday.
Abrar, who registered a record-equalling four-wicket haul on ODI debut, acknowledged that he was under pressure, mainly due to the series opener’s outcome but shared that his self-belief and confidence given by the skipper brought the best out of him.
“Look, there is always a pressure of the international match and the way we lost the first match so, obviously, the pressure was there but I had self-belief as I had been bowling consistently in search of the opportunity since quite a long time,” said Abrar.
“Rizwan had already given me a lot of confidence in the starting. He had told me that ‘Abrar, you’ll have to bowl with the new ball and also whenever I need you in the middle [overs], you’ll come [to bowl].’ So, I carried that confidence forward,” he added.
Abrar was supported by vice-captain Salman Ali Agha, who dismantled Zimbabwe’s middle-order with three wickets, while part-timer Saim Ayub and left-arm spinner Faisal Akram chipped in with one scalp apiece as the home side were skittled for a meagre 145 in 32.3 overs.
In response, a swashbuckling century by emerging opener Saim helped the visitors to amass the total without losing a wicket and 190 balls to spare.
Saim dominated the Zimbabwean bowlers, smashing them for 20 boundaries, including three sixes, on his way to an unbeaten 113 off just 62 deliveries.
The left-handed opener, as a result, pipped Abrar Ahmed to earn the Player of the Match award.
“No doubt, everyone knows about Saim Ayub that if he gets going, he’ll turn the match in a one-sided affair. I sincerely wish that he keeps performing like this and continues winning matches for Pakistan,” Abrar lauded Saim.
Sohail Imran Sohail Imran is a senior reporter for Geo News.- Abrar Ahmed
