Mohammad Hafeez terms Hyderabad Hawks as the ‘Black Horses’ of the Faysal Bank T20 Tournament - Cricket News Update
Pakistani all-rounder, Mohammad Hafeez, has said that Hyderabad Hawks could turn out to be the ‘Dark Horses’ in the Faysal Bank T20 Tournament, being played in Karachi.
The domestic T20 tournament of Pakistan started on the 25th of September, 2011. Initially the tournament was scheduled to be played in Lahore, but the on-going dengue virus in Lahore has forced the cricket administrators to shift the tournament to Karachi.
Hyderabad Hawks have historically not done that well in the domestic cricket of Pakistan, but off-late, they have shown some signs of improvement and the likes of Sharjeel Khan and Lal Kumar have emerged amongst the list of most talented players in the country.
Hafeez said that no cricket analyst gives much of a chance to Hyderabad but it will be a mistake this time round to write off the Hawks. While talking about the prospects of his own team, Faisalabad Wolves, the all-rounder is disappointed about his team’s performance in the recent tournaments but he believes that it is an ideal opportunity for his side to make an impression on the tournament.
“Hyderabad aren’t highly rated but they could be the dark horses as they have shown in previous tournaments that they are a useful side. As for Faisalabad Wolves, well we need to raise our performance levels. In the last few tournaments we have not performed at our expected level,” said the Pakistani opener.
Hafeez added that the tournament is also a huge opportunity for the young cricketers to prove their worth and knock on the doors of national selection. He gave the example of Rameez Raja Jr, who was selected for Pakistan’s tour of Zimbabwe after his brilliant performance in the Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Tournament, held in Faisalabad earlier this year. He scored half centuries in the semi-final and the final of the tournament and was selected for national duty.
“The tournament is a fantastic opportunity for everyone to shine and perform well, especially the youngsters to impress the selectors. The example for the younger players being Rameez Raja (jr) in the last tournament who did very well and he was given a chance to play for Pakistan recently,” said Hafeez.