‘Very mature’: Hardie lauds Babar’s captaincy skills ahead of PSL 11 campaign
LAHORE: Australia’s emerging all-rounder Aaron Hardie on Friday expressed confidence in captain Babar Azam’s knowledge to come in handy for Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 11, scheduled to run until May 3.
The 27-year-old all-rounder, who was roped in by the 2017 champions as the replacement of Afghanistan wicketkeeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz, shared that their captain Babar has been very welcoming to all the overseas players in the Zalmi squad for the upcoming 11th edition of the marquee league.
He also applauded the captaincy skills of the star batter, citing his vast maturity and knowledge of the game, while backing him to the “calm head” they could rely on throughout the ongoing edition.
“Babar has been awesome. He’s been very welcoming to all the overseas players and you know I got to bat with him in the nets,” Hardie told reporters on the sidelines of their training session here earlier today.
“So be able to work with him to learn from someone as quality of the player as Babar has been awesome. […] His captaincy speaks for itself; he’s very mature and knows a lot about the game.
“So, he’s played lots of 2020s, and yeah, he’s going to be a calm head for us to rely on throughout the season.” Hardie also expressed satisfaction with the Zalmi’s squad composition, terming it “well-balanced”, asserting that it has all bases covered in both batting and bowling departments.
“I’ve been impressed with everyone that I’ve seen. We’ve got some really quality batsmen at the top of the order and some really good power throughout the middle,” Hardie stated.
“With some exciting young bowlers, some good pace some good spin options. So yeah, I think we have a really well-balanced team and squad, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do,” he added.
The Australian then went on to express his disappointment over the absence of fans in the PSL 11 before expressing his hope that the latter part of the tournament may feature passionate spectators.
He, however, insisted that being professionals, they would give their 100 per cent in the field regardless of the crowd’s absence. “It’s a shame to have no crowd. We’re certainly hopeful that as the competition goes on that we can have some crowd join us. I know as players we love having the crowd there.
“It certainly brings lots of energy to the game. But you know, we’re all professionals now. So, whether there’s crowd or whether there’s no crowd, we still go out there tomorrow and give a hundred per cent energy, and [it] doesn’t necessarily change the way that we go about things, but certainly hopefully towards the back end of the competition. It would be great to be able to see some crowds come back.” Monitoring Desk
