- Johan Botha calls Babar Azam’s move to Peshawar Zalmi, “big loss” for his team.
- He replaced him with James Vince, who has played well in the PSL.
- Botha was the assistant coach for Karachi Kings in PSL 5, and praised the PSL for its quality of cricket.
Johan Botha, the head coach of Karachi Kings, expressed his concern about star cricketer Babar Azam’s move to Peshawar Zalmi, calling it a “big loss” for his team because he is one of the best batters in the world.
Former South African cricketer responded to a question about Babar Azam’s absence from the Karachi squad while speaking on a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Digital platform.
“Yeah, he [Babar] is one of the best cricketers in the world. I think Sharjeel [Khan] is still obviously at the top, which he has done very well over the last few years,” Botha said.
“We have filled Babar’s spot with James Vince, who has played really well for Multan. But, that is [Babar Azam moving to Peshawar Zalmi] obviously a big loss. He is a big player, he is a big character in the tournament and he draws big crowds into the stadium. We have tried to replace him with James Vince. Hopefully, we can substitute that – Vince has done really well when he’s played in the PSL,” he further stated.
It should be noted that Azam moved from Karachi to Peshawar Zalmi prior to the PSL draught last year.
Botha was the assistant coach for Karachi Kings in PSL 5, when they won the championship.
.@KarachiKingsARY head coach Johan Botha previews #HBLPSL8 and analyses his team’s combination
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Praising the PSL tournament and his experience in it, Botha said, “I have had some great experiences in the past and I think it [PSL] is a great tournament. It is probably one of the best two or three tournaments in the world and obviously great to work in it. It is just a good tournament for me to be involved in.”
Botha also opened up about the quality of cricket in the PSL.
“It is the quality of the cricket. There are high scores and most nights the wickets are really good, but I think it’s the bowling quality of all teams. Every team has outstanding bowling and that is why a lot of teams go to the draft to pick international batters,” he said.
“It is a good match-up as it is top international batters versus top local bowlers and not to throw at the local batters, you know, there are obviously some world-class players in there,” he added.
This is a good tournament for international batters to come and improve their batting against fast bowling, he added.
Botha also remarked that: “We [Karachi] need to establish ourselves as one of the better teams in the tournament. That obviously is going to take some work from being last probably the last couple of years, only having won one game, during the PSL 7.”
Botha also told PCB Digital that batter Haider Ali could be a key player in the team.
“I think our biggest player and the player we probably need to get the most out of is [Haider] Ali. When he was with [Peshawar] Zalmi in the first couple of years, he was excellent. I thought this guy could be one of the best T20 players in the world,” he said.
The 40-year-old also emphasised the significance of runs scored by Karachi’s top-order batsmen.
“Hopefully, we can fire at the top with the bat. In a tournament like this, your top six have to fire, get the runs, and get it quick enough or you are always going to struggle,” he said.
“Obviously, last year there was something missing. I think we have covered it a way it’s a lot to replace an excellent player. But we have done pretty well to cover that,” Botha concluded.
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