- Karachi Kings remains the favorite to be the winner
Interview with Mr. Zohaib Ahmed — Senior Cloud Operations Engineer, Bupa Australia
PAGE: Tell me something about yourself, please:
Zohaib Ahmed: I am a Pakistani-Australian polyglot, working in the IT/Telecom industry for now almost 16 years. Currently, I am working as the Senior Cloud Engineer for Bupa. I am an avid fan of Star Trek (Treky) and a self-anointed cricket critic.
PAGE: How would you comment on Pakistan Super League?
Zohaib Ahmed: PSL is very close to my heart. This tournament has come so far since its inception in 2016 that it can rival any T20 domestic tournament around the world and I hope it just keeps doing better every year. The first match between Multan and Lahore will be a good start to this tournament, Lahore would like to pick up where they left off in 2022 and Multan, they surely would not want to disappoint their home crowd.
PAGE: What is your perspective about Lahore Qalandars, Islamabad United and Karachi Kings?
Zohaib Ahmed: My team for this tournament is going to be Karachi Kings (always) a bit of an underdog but who doesn’t like a Cinderella story? As far as Lahore or Islamabad is concerned, in my opinion, Lahore Qalandars is the best side of this tournament and if anything, this is going to be Lahore’s title to lose, they have a great team and the Qalandars will be charged to defend their title. Islamabad United have their work cut out for them and I have no doubt that they will play their best and they do have a lot of players like Azam Khan, Asif Ali and Hasan Ali that have a point to prove to their critics.
PAGE: What is your standpoint on the stadiums as Rawalpindi will stage 11 fixtures, Karachi and Lahore will host nine matches each, whereas Multan will have five home games?
Zohaib Ahmed: Unfortunately for us, the current climate of uncertainty and security situation in the country has forced PCB to play all the matches in Rawalpindi, Multan and Lahore except for the 9 at National Bank Cricket Arena Karachi with the complete eliminator phase at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore. It’s a blessing that this tournament is happening in Pakistan, but one should hope that things will improve and in the future, we will see teams playing at Arbab Niaz Stadium Peshawar, Quetta Cricket Stadium, Niaz Stadium Hyderabad and the rest of the country as well.
PAGE: What is your take on passionate Pakistan cricket fans?
Zohaib Ahmed: PSL always gets a huge following in Pakistan and abroad. People are passionate about this sport, and I am hoping this year is no different. I love the banter, and the rivalries and especially love the songs. I genuinely hope that HBL PSL 8 becomes the biggest and the best PSL we ever had and may the best team win, surely by now you know that the team I will be rooting for this year like always will be Karachi Kings.