Nadeem Omar, owner of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Quetta Gladiators, has said that both Sarfaraz Ahmed and Babar Azam were ready to play under each other’s captaincy if Babar had joined the franchise.

“This is the beauty of both Babar and Sarfaraz that they both were ready to play under each other's captaincy,” said Omar.

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“We played a match against Babar-led Zalmi. I must tell you that Babar is an amazing personality. He is a confident lad who keeps the focus on his work. They had great chemistry, and it never looked like Babar had replaced Sarfaraz as captain of the national side. Both have great respect for each other.”

Omar opined that they wished to have the Pakistan captain in their franchise, but they couldn't reach to a deal.

“We tried our best to pick Babar, but Zalmi also needed a captain. I don’t know what happened. We have been trying to get Babar for the last three years,” he added.

The gladiators’ owner also explained why his franchise has been unable to qualify for the playoffs for last two seasons.

“We had a lot of availability and injury issues which hampered our performances. Our schedule was also not ideal. Plus, you know what happened with Sarfaraz as well. If the captain is disturbed, the team can’t perform well,” he said.

“This time, our captain is settled, and his confidence has also increased after performing in the Test series. Our team combination is also really good. We recently went to Quetta and won a hard-fought match. We are hopeful of going all the way this year,” he added.

Omar also thinks that Sarfaraz Ahmed and Mohammad Rizwan can play together in the Pakistan team in Tests and ODIs.

“I kept saying Rizwan is a really good keeper. I always thought both could play in the same line-up, especially in longer formats like Test and ODI. When Pakistan is already struggling on spin pitches, you need someone like Sarfaraz in the middle,” he said.

Sarfaraz will be leading Gladiators for the eighth consecutive season in the upcoming HBL Pakistan Super League edition, which is scheduled to begin on February 13.