Multan Sultans' Shimron Hetmyer aspires to enhance skills during PSL 6

KARACHI: The Pakistan Super League, since its inception, has provided many players with an opportunity to learn from others’ experiences and understand various cricketers.

This opening to learn new things is not limited to local talent. The foreigners are also trying maximum advantage by participating in this league.

West Indian cricketer Shimron Hetmyer, who will be donning Multan Sultans’ jersey during the tournament, has also set his eyes on learning something new. But that’s not the only thing he is planning to do during the league’s 6th edition in Abu Dhabi.

The 24-year-old said during times when people are confined to their biosecure bubbles, the only way to get through it is by making new friends and bonding with them.

“All you can do is just keep a smile on your face and try to enjoy being around people,” the West Indian cricketer said.

He added that West Indian cricketers are no different, as they also enjoy in the field while playing.

Hetmyer has represented West Indies in 16 Tests, 45 ODIs, and 27 T20Is.

The batsman is also named by West Indies in the provisional 18-man squad for T20Is against South Africa, Australia, and Pakistan. He’s also likely to be in line for the Windies squad for this year’s T20 World Cup.

And, he’s taking PSL’s remainders in Abu Dhabi as an opportunity to learn for his two upcoming tasks — series against Pakistan and T20 World, which is likely to be played in UAE. 

“In every practice session, I'm trying as much as possible to gain as much experience in terms of knowing the bowlers and knowing the guys more so I could probably go back at home and just work on my game,” Hetmyer said. 

Talking about his role with Multan Sultans in PSL games, the Guyanese batsman said that his goals for the team’s cause would be depending on the match situation.

"I'm here to lend a helping hand to support my team in whatever way possible and push the numbers up so we could qualify,” he added.

The top-order batsman said weather conditions are beyond the control of athletes and his job is to prepare according to it.

“Well, you can't think too much about it because there is nothing that you could do to change the weather or anything like that. You could basically just control your performance, so I don't think about it as much,” he said.

Hetmyer agreed with the fact that the bio-secure bubble could take a toll on players’ mental health but there is nothing much one can do as this has become a new norm, at least, in the cricket world and it is being done to protect the health of people involved.