PSL 2023: Daren Sammy can’t say enough good things about Babar Azam, the captain of Peshawar Zalmi.
The eighth season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) starts on Monday. On Sunday, Daren Sammy, the head coach of Peshawar Zalmi, said that Babar Azam is one of the best players in the world.
Sammy told the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Digital when he was talking to them: “In the Zalmi camp, it’s great to have him on board. Having Babar in the bathroom is a great thing. He is one of the world’s best batters.”
The coach said more good things about the 28-year-old player: “I always say that I don’t think of myself as a coach. I say that I am a tactician. From a technical point of view, there isn’t much more you could do to improve Babar’s game.”
Sammy also talked about how, over the years, he has worked with the PSL and become a well-known name in the country.
“It has been a wonderful trip. The first time I saw this number, I think the area code was +92, it was a young Javed Afridi sending me a message after the auction to welcome me to the Zalmi team. That’s how we met, and we’ve been great friends ever since “The old captain of the West Indies said.
“The journey has been such that I feel like I’m at home. Zalmi will always be my home. If you cut me, Zalmi blood will come out of the wound. So far, the trip has been like this “, he added.
The 39-year-old said this about how close he was to the PSL team: “Because of Peshawar Zalmi, people now know who I am. It is something I will always be thankful for and the icing on the cake was being able to play a part in bringing cricket back here through the PSL.”
“When Marlon Samuels, Dawid Malan, Chris Jordan, and I won the cup in 2017 and flew out, we thought it was a small step in the right direction. To be part of something that’s bigger than cricket in itself by fast-tracking [the return of international cricket to Pakistan] with Australia, South Africa, England, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies [coming here].”
“Fans here can now see Babar Azam get a hundred and Shaheen Shah Afridi take five wickets. This is a big deal. I do not think they ever saw Misbah [ul-Haq] score a Test hundred here, but it gives me joy to know I was part of something special,” added Sammy.
The opening ceremony of PSL 2023 will be held in Multan on February 13 in which the Sultans and Lahore Qalandars will be clashing at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
The final will be held on March 19 at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
During the tournament, there will be more than 36 foreign players from 10 different countries.