KARACHI: Peshawar Zalmi head coach Darren Sammy and mentor Hashima Amla said on Friday that they are enjoying their roles with Peshawar Zalmi and rated Pakistan Super League highly, terming it as a platform for finding new talent in Pakistan Cricket.

Both Sammy and Amla have stayed back in Pakistan after the postponement of PSL 6 and recently attended the Peshawar Zalmi MG Zalmi Cup trials to give coaching tips to budding cricketers.

In an exclusive interview with Dawn News in program ‘Replay’, Sammy said Pakistan Super League has become a very big and popular brand after six seasons. “I am sure PSL will be successfully completed in June and I am really looking forward to it,” said Sammy “Peshawar Zalmi have performed well in PSL 6 so far and it will be exciting to play the remaining matches in June after the suspension due to Covid-19.”

Sammy, who lead West Indies to two World T20 titles in 2012 and 2016, said he is enjoying his coaching role with Zalmi. “Once a Zalmi fan is always a Zalmi fan and it’s like a family for me. I am very impressed with the hard work put up by our director cricket Mohammad Akram to unearth new talent,” said Sammy. “Akram and Company visited ten cities of Pakistan and have been working very hard work to witness the trials. I must say there is a lot of potential in these 40 short-listed cricketers which I saw in the final round of MG Zalmi camp at Shalimar Ground Islamabad recently.”

Meanwhile, legendary South African batsman Hashim Amla said he is hopeful that Peshawar Zalmi will be able to continue their good show in PSL when it resumes in June.

“It will be a challenge to regather the momentum after a few months break, but this will be a new experience and our focus will be on doing well in the remaining matches of PSL 6. We won 3 out of 5 matches and we will try our best to maintain the winning momentum in June.”

Amla also said he was impressed with the new talent he watched and coached during the last stage of MG Zalmi camp. “PSL has already produced lot of young talent for Pakistan and many of them have gone on to play at international cricket too,” he observed. “Good steps like Zalmi Talent hunt will add more value to Pakistan Cricket as there is lot of potential in Pakistan cricket.”

Both Sammy and Amla also visited Pakistan’s famous ski resort Malam Jabba on Thursday and Friday and were all praise for one of the most beautiful tourist spots in the northern areas. “ I was stunned to see the beauty of Pakistan in my road trip to Malam Jabba from Islamabad to Swat this week,” said Sammy. “I must say this is a very beautiful country and the world should come and experience these stunning places here.”

Sammy and Amla along with Peshawar Zalmi skipper Wahab Riaz, Kamran Akmal, and Umaid Asif also attended a traditional dinner cum musical night Peshawar Zalmi Chairman Javed Afridi thanked Malam Jabba resort CEO Wasim ur Rehman for a hospitality Peshawar Zalmi had signed MOU with Malam Jabba resort for PSL 6 to promote tourism in Pakistan and also put Malam Jabba logo on Zalmi kit during Pakistan Super League sason 6.

Published in Dawn, March 20th, 2021