Sarfaraz was hiding behind Hasaranga’s excuse after Gladiators’ poor show

The captain of the Quetta Gladiators, Sarfaraz Ahmed, has again made excuses after his team’s yet another poor performance in the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) season eight.

Lahore Qalandars thrashed Quetta Gladiators by 63 runs on Tuesday, as the Sarfaraz-led side failed to put up a good show in any department of the game.

Speaking in an interview after the match, Sarfaraz said that their plans have been hampered by the absence of their platinum option this season, Wanindu Hasaranga.

“A great player [Hasaranga] we relied on him not coming because he didn’t get NOC. This is a big thing – if you build a team and suddenly a key player can’t come, the balance of your team is affected, so we have to deal with a few problems now ,” said Sarfaraz.

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The Sri Lankan All-rounder has been denied NOC by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) for the league.

Hasaranga was available for Gladiators. He was supposed to play six games before leaving on March 3. However, the Gladiators have now confirmed that he will no longer join the team and are looking for another player.

The week before the tournament, the captain of Quetta, in an interview with Cricket Pakistan, said that Hasaranga’s availability for the entire season is it is important for them.

“As far as foreigners are concerned, Hasaranga is an important addition to our side. He is the number one world tour, so we chose him as our first choice. If he is available for us from the first game, it will be very good for us,” said Sarfaraz.

Sarfaraz, in the aforementioned post-match interview, also said that they did not get off to a good start from their debut in the powerplay, which is holding them back.

“We didn’t start well, the pressure was on us. The pitch was good for the batsmen. Roy is a top player, he is our important things and it is important that he scores now. We will talk with the boys about how to move forward in the tournament,” he said.

The Gladiators have now lost three of their first four matches and are currently at the bottom of the table.