LAHORE: Young batter Khawaja Mohammad Nafay of Quetta Gladiators says he plays fearless cricket on the advice of his coaches which helped him a lot to deliver in a tense situation during the HBL Pakistan Super League match against Lahore Qalandars here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Monday night.

“I always try to play fearless cricket according to my coaches’ advice and I batted the same way against Qalandars,” the 22-year-old budding player from Karachi told reporters during a news conference after leading his team to a well-deserved five-wicket triumph over defending champions Lahore Qalandars.

Nafay said the Quetta Gladiators’ management had supported him a lot, adding “I am enjoying playing the PSL for the first time”.

Batting at number three, right-handed Nafay smashed an unbeaten 60 off just 31 balls with the help of four fours and three sixes as Gladiators chased down 188 with five balls to spare.

The young man confidently played a variety of belligerent strokes in crucial moments in the game as his team denied a strong Qalandars pace attack comprising skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Zaman Khan.

“Shaheen and Haris are very good fast bowlers and I always enjoy seeing them in action,” said Nafay who has represented Chattogram Challengers in the Bangladesh Premier League and Deccan Gladiators in the Abu Dhabi T10 League, but is yet to play first-class cricket.

Nafay said his favourite batters were Pakistan’s Babar Azam and Indian captain Rohit Sharma.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2024