QUETTA: Pakistan Super League (PSL) team Quetta Gladiators on Wednesday laun­ched its logo in an impressive ceremony here which was graced by Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri as well as other prominent personalities of the city.

“There is no dearth of sporting talent in Balochistan and our government would do its best for the promotion of sports,” the chief minister said in his speech on the occasion.

He welcomed PSL team owner Nadeem Omar and former Pakistan captain and coach Moin Khan to the province and said: “The game of cricket is close to our hearts and most of us have played cricket at the Bughti Stadium. We have watched many great innings from Moin who was a wonderful player.”

Speaker of the Balochistan Assembly Raheela Hameed Khan Dur­rani, opposition leader Maulana Abdul Wasay, Senator Shahbaz Duurani, MPAs, cricket organiser Azam Khan and others attended the colourful ceremony.

Quetta Gladiators chief Nadeem was delighted with the warm response in Quetta and stated that by judging the love and enthusiasm shown by the city of Quetta he felt proud for making the right choice of the team.

“It is great to see everyone backing Quetta Gladiators and the presence of Balochistan CM and regional officials of Baloch­istan Cricket Association is a testament to the support we have,” Nadeem said.

He disclosed that three to four academies for the players of Balochistan will soon be established for the Balochistan players here.

Bismillah Khan was the best available player of Quetta among the two players in the PSL Players Draft and he was picked up instantly by the Gladiators.

Head coach Moin Khan vowed that the Quetta team could win the PSL title. “We’ve selected a very balanced squad which is capable of winning the title and hopefully the people of Quetta and Balochistan would see good performances from us,” Moin claimed.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2016