Lahore Qalandars among strong contenders to win PSL 2021: David Wiese

Faizan Lakhani

February 24, 2021

Lahore Qalandars’ South African cricketer David Wiese in the field. File photo

Lahore Qalandars’ David Wiese showed confidence that Lahore Qalandars are off to a good start in PSL6
In an exclusive interview to Geo News, the 35-year-old all-rounder says that Qalandars is no more a table-bottom team
He said that the key behind Lahore’s success is that the team management has backed its players

KARACHI: Lahore Qalandars’ South African cricketer David Wiese showed confidence that Qalandars are off to a good start in the Pakistan Super League which is very important for a team in a top tournament like this.

In an exclusive interview to Geo News, the 35-year-old all-rounder warned the opponents that Qalandars are no more a table-bottom team and the side is now among the strong contenders to win the PSL.

“It's a good start to the season. It is the first time that we've actually ever won the first game this season for the Qalandars. So, that's a nice little boost for us. The team is playing really well at the moment and the guys are putting in some good performances,” he said.

Addressing fans of Lahore Qalandars, the South African cricketer said: “We've had some tough times and you guys have always stuck with us the whole time. Hopefully, now we can give you some good memories and some good times."

Hoping to see more crowd during Lahore’s leg of the PSL, he said that the key behind Lahore’s success is that the team management has backed its players and the squad is together for quite some time now which has transformed them into a good unit.

“I think if you look at the team that we've got [this year], it's kind of the same team we've had over the past few years and that's what has been really good with Lahore Qalandars that they've backed the team."

"Even though the results didn't go away the first couple seasons, they've kept the same players the whole time and they've backed those players and those players have now got a bit more experience,” he said while commenting about Lahore’s combination.

“This year, there's almost that belief now that we are no longer the team that everybody sees as the bottom-of-the-table team, we were a team to beat and team to reckon with, and two good wins to start the PSL is quite an effective message to send,” he added.

'Start playing golf'

The all-rounder has played some great knocks for Qalandars and is known for his aggressive style of batting. When asked what a batsman should do to become a good power hitter, he advised starting playing golf.

“It is going to sound like a strange one but my advice would be to start playing golf,” he said when this correspondent asked him what would be his advice to batsmen trying to improve their power-hitting skills.

“I'm not sure if there's a lot of people that play golf here in Pakistan, I know Mohammad Hafeez, he's a keen golfer and he's got his power-hitting skills developed really well,” the South African cricketer highlighted.

Explaining how playing golf can help improve power-hitting, David Wiese said that the golf swing is naturally close to the swing required for power-hitting in cricket.

“You see golfers swinging the same, you see baseball players swinging the same. It's only cricketers who have a different swing as we are taught differently from a young age to have a different technique in hitting the ball. That's all well and good when it comes to batting technically correct but when it comes to power hitting, it's not always the best technique to have,”

“So, if you can go and simulate a natural golf swing or baseball swing or something like that, you're going to be a lot more successful. And, that's how over the last couple years the fundamentals of power-hitting have actually changed and you can see how the guys are just getting better and better and hitting the ball further and further,” he explained.

He further said that it is also important for batsmen to think ahead of the bowler and force the bowler to make mistakes so he can be hit over the fence.

“It is no longer just a case of standing still and just trying to hit the ball the whole time, you've got to be a step ahead of the bowler and try and force him to make a mistake. If you don't do that, he's just going to go and nail the skill the whole time, and you won't be able to hit those boundaries,” Wiese said.

'Never feel unsafe in Pakistan'

The South African also gave thumbs up to the security arrangements in Pakistan and hoped to see more teams visiting the country soon.

“I think the whole issue with security is well documented now. At no stage at all do we feel unsafe or feel like there's any incident going to happen. I've spoken for most of the players here also that there's not one moment where we feel unsafe or feel like there's going to be a problem with security or anything like that,” he said.

“I think over the past years the Pakistan Cricket Board has proved that they can host tournaments they can host Test matches, ODI and it is now only a matter of time if they're going to get more and more test playing nations coming touring here,” the Qalandars’ all-rounder said.

He also spoke about the bio-secure bubbles being in place to ensure cricket in the world and said that he doesn’t think that the whole bio bubble thing is sustainable and it is going to have to come to an end.

“You've seen players who've been five months in a bio bubble and then they needed to take a mental break from the game because it's striking. That gets amplified when you don't do well. You start sitting by yourself and spending time by yourself, you don't get out of your room, and then it just gets a dark place. So, it is tough,” he said about life in a biosecure bubble.