DUBAI: Peshawar Zalmi captain and West Indies all-rounder Darren Sammy won the hearts of Pakistani fans when he tweeted in Pashto in last year’s Pakistan Super League and he has tweeted in the language on a number of times since then.
However, it was not yet known who had been his Pashto teacher in the team. Today, talking to Geo News, Sammy first tried to hide the ‘secret.’
When asked about his Pashto tweets, he said, “It could be the owner (Javed Afridi), it could not be the owner, it could be Javed, it could be Shahid, it could not be Shahid.”
When asked about his PSL experience, Sammy said that it has been good.
“It’s my second year and I’m enjoying it. We have a team which seems like a family. We have good owners, good players and some good coaches. We’ve got two more matches to play and we’re looking to win both”, he added.
But later during the interview, Sammy finally revealed his Pashto master.
“It’s Javed. He’s the one who teaches me Pashto.”
To a question about comparing PSL with other leagues, he said that it was very good and competitive.
“We’ve seen good international players and not only international, but the local talent in Pakistan was also exposed. We have Hasan, who is playing for Pakistan and he’s still our emerging player. He’s been bowling really well and he could possibly play some good cricket for Pakistan in near future”, he added.
Sammy said that It is good to have international players but it is better to have the new talent being exposed on the world stage which is good for Pakistan cricket.
Talking about the standard of PSL, he said, “Every match is very important. It just who plays better on the day. You look at the squad they are evenly matched and that’s what you want in a league. Fans are being entertained with some good, quality cricket.”
To a question about PSL final in Lahore, he said that at the moment he was only focusing on the next two matches.
“I’m not thinking about the final yet. I’ve told the guys to focus on what is important and that is important is winning those two matches to qualify for the playoffs first. When that time comes, it will take care of itself”, West Indies all-rounder added.
Talking about the lack of international cricket in Pakistan, he said that it was sad for Pakistani fans not to see their players in action.
“It’s a sad thing that fans in Pakistan don’t get to see international matches. All my fans from Saint Lucia get to see me. All the fans get to see their players at home. It’s sad. Hopefully, things could resolve because the fans deserve to see international as well as their own players”, he said.
When asked if he was personally willing to play the final in Lahore, he said, “I’m not going to answer that question. Like I said, my focus is to make sure we qualify for the final.”
—Edited by Zain-ul-abideen Siddiqui.