Playing alongside Hafeez meant that I had no pressure on me: Zaman

Lahore Qalandars’ opener Fakhar Zaman, who played an unbeaten 82-run knock off 52 balls during his side’s win over Quetta Gladiators on Monday, has opened up about batting with veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez.

Hafeez has been in sublime form in T20 cricket in the recent past and he continued that with another majestic innings, 73 runs off 33 balls, against the Gladiators.

“I needed an innings like this as I had been trying to play one like this for a while; Luckily I had some time off in which I worked on my batting and all that work paid off today which is very pleasing,” said Zaman. “My plan was to play like I normally do and based on my preparations for the PSL, the idea was not to hit the ball too hard but play it based on merit.”

“Playing alongside Hafeez meant that I had no pressure on me and I was giving strike to him; He was saying to me that look I am getting some good hits so don't take extra risk; I took his advice and made sure that Hafeez played most of the balls, and to punish bad balls if they came,” he added.

ALSO READ: ‘Sad’ Chris Gayle leaves HBL PSL, eager to return for Lahore leg

Zaman also hoped that he can continue batting like this in the upcoming matches of the ongoing HBL PSL 6.

“It will be my effort to try and get a good start to my innings in each match I play, so let’s see how it goes,” he concluded.