Kept working hard to get my chance: Umaid

Dubai - The greenish Dubai International Cricket Stadium square was a surprise even for the Peshawar Zalmi pace bowler

A spectacular exhibition of fast bowling by a not-so-young debutant combined with a teenager wrist spinner's daring to toss his leg breaks gave mighty former champions a humbling experience in the fourth match in the third edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
The greenish Dubai International Cricket Stadium square was a surprise even for the Peshawar Zalmi pace bowler who wrecked former champions Islamabad Zalmi. "I have played in the past in Dubai but this was for the first time I saw green top," Umaid Asif, who took four wickets in 11 balls, said at a post-match media briefing.
"The pitch had a good carry," opined the 33-year-old bowler, who was not picked in the original draft despite taking most wickets (14 from nine matches) in Pakistan's domestic T20 tournament. After being ignored by the franchises, Umaid had tweeted about his disappointment after not being picked even as a 21st player but later deleted the tweet. "Yes, I was disappointed but not disheartened and kept working hard to get my chance," he said, adding that he hopes to do play and do well for Pakistan.
Islamabad United head coach Dean Jones praised the bowler for his performance that dealt a dedly blow for his team in their first match of the season. "Rusty. I'm keeping it clean. As is everyone. That is the worst performance Islamabad has played in three PSLs," he reasoned in a post-match interaction with journalists. "It can only go upwards," he wished and conceded that his bowlers didn't bowl well. "They (Zalmi) took their chances, Akmal played really well. We didn't hit our defensive lines and lengths early," he explained the underperforming bowlers' short comings in the match.
"At 100 off 10, you are pushing it from there. The bottom line is, four for 25 in four, the game is over in the 24th over. We are better than that," he added. He also agreed that Islamabad were never good starters from first season. "We are normally not the greatest starters in the world. We take a while to get ourselves ready and wound up. But I remind you, it is not what you do at the start, it is what you do at the end."
sunilvaidya@khaleejtimes.com