Pacer Umar Gul-led Sindh cricket team are in high spirit with hopes of re-writing Pakistan Cup history when the five-team tournament gets underway at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi, on April 2.
Sindh have never made it to the final in the past three editions. They finished third in 2016 and 2017, and fourth in 2018. In the event starting on April 2, Sindh cricket team will face Balochistan, Federal Areas, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab on April 4, 6, 9 and 11, respectively.
Umar is a fan of Pakistan Cup and, as a leader, his aim is to make Sindh prosper and challenge the other teams with the target of turning the team's fortunes around. "I really like the Pakistan Cup, it is one of our leading 50-over competitions.
I have good understanding with most of the players and as a captain, as a leader, I have full confidence in my team. It should be a really competitive tournament as all five teams are well-balanced and look strong," said Umar, who played 47 Tests, 130 ODIs and 60 T20Is between 2003 and 2016.
Umar had a decent outing for Balochistan in last year's Pakistan Cup, when he snared four wickets in as many games. He took third spot in the bowlers' chart in 2017 with seven wickets, while he claimed six wickets in 2016.
Umar had faith in his team's bowling strength, which also included promising young fast bowler Mohammad Ilyas and experienced Junaid Khan and Rahat Ali. Left-arm spinner Nauman Ali, who represented Multan Sultans in the HBL Pakistan Super League 2019, and Ashiq Ali are the spin bowling options available to Umar.
"Our batting is very strong too with experienced batsmen like Umar Amin and Umar Siddiq, who can also keep wickets along with Mohammad Hassan," he said.
Sindh Team: Umar Gul (captain); Ahsan Ali; Amir Yamin; Ashiq Ali; Asif Ali; Hammad Azam; Imran Rafiq; Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hassan (WK); Mohammad Ilyas; Nauman Ali; Rahat Ali; Sahibzada Farhan; Umar Amin and Umar Siddiq (WK).