PSL 2021: Sarfaraz Ahmed reportedly unhappy with PCB after being refused permission to fly to Abu Dhabi
Quetta Gladiators captain Sarfaraz Ahmed is reportedly disappointed with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after he and 10 others were refused permission to travel to Abu Dhabi for PSL 2021.
Sarfaraz Ahmed was due to fly to Abu Dhabi in the wee hours of Sunday morning. However, he was refused permission due to clearance issues and had to return to his hotel.
According to media reports from Pakistan, on Saturday night, the PCB announced that 16 people (6 from Karachi and 10 from Lahore) would be traveling to Abu Dhabi on commercial flights. However, only five individuals, including Mohammad Hasnain, were allowed to travel. Sarfaraz Ahmed and 10 others were left stranded at the airport.
A report in arysports.tv claimed that the travel documents of the people stranded in Karachi and Lahore are now complete. The PCB is now awaiting Abu Dhabi Sports Council’s approval so that the players can fly to Abu Dhabi.
The report further claimed that Quetta Gladiators’ owner Nadeem Omer blames the PCB over the incident. However, he did not stage a major protest, keeping the reputation of the T20 league in mind.
The PCB intended to restart PSL 2021 before June 5. However, with issues cropping up, there is still no clarity on the dates. The Pakistan team is scheduled to fly to England on June 22, so the tournament in Abu Dhabi needs to end before that.
Fielding cost us matches: Sarfaraz Ahmed
The Quetta Gladiators had a tough time in PSL 2021 before the tournament was suspended over bio-bubble breaches, with four losses in five matches.
The Gladiators began PSL 2021 with a seven-wicket defeat to the Karachi Kings. They subsequently also lost to the Lahore Qalandars, Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United before opening their account with a win over the Multan Sultans.
In an interview with Cricket Pakistan, Sarfaraz Ahmed blamed the team’s fielding for their poor performances in the first few games. He explained:
“If you look back at the five matches, we did reasonably well, but the major factor that let us down was fielding. We were really poor in that department. We missed catches and run-outs at important times and that was a major setback, which is why we lost so many matches.”
Sarfaraz Ahmed scored 81 from 40 against Peshawar Zalmi and 54 from 41 versus Islamabad United, but the rest of the team members could not contribute much as the Quetta Gladiators went down in both matches.
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