RAWALPINDI: Pakistan leg-spinner Usman Qadir on Tuesday said he was trying to gain as much as he could from spin great Saqlain Mushtaq.

“Saqlain’s presence in the dressing room is an opportunity for the spinners to learn the art of spin from him. As a spinner, I am taking advantage of that,” the 28-year-old Usman said in a video shared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday. “Shadab Khan, Zahid Mahmood and I are setting targets and training hard with him for the [New Zealand] series,”

Usman, who has played only ODI so far, said he was also taking help from skipper Babar Azam.

“I always try to be close to him and learn from him. He is a good cricketer and his experience is of great help,” he said.

Usman said Pakistan were confident to take benefit of the home conditions against New Zealand.

“We will by trying to win the series by taking advantage of our home conditions,” he said.

Meanwhile, young batsman Saud Shakil, who also appeared in the video along with Usman, said Pakistan would be playing fearless brand of cricket according to modern-day requirements.

“We all have set individual goals to perform well in the [New Zealand] series. I fully understand that as a middle-order batsman there is a big responsibility on me to deliver,” the 26-year-old said.

Pakistan had played an intra-squad match which was good to prepare for the series, the left-handed added.

“I also took part in two training sessions yesterday. The time between sunset and darkness was very important for the practice. Before the series, we are also focusing on our fielding.”

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2021