Lahore Qalandars' star batter Fakhar Zaman has hoped to kick off the upcoming eighth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) with "good momentum".
In an exclusive interview with Geo.tv, Fakhar said: "Preparation for the PSL has been good. I hope to start the event with good momentum. I have prepared according to the plan after returning from injury. I've tried doing longer sessions to get what I wanted in the camp. Hopefully, the hard work will pay off."
The Qalandars will kick off their PSL title defence against Multan Sultans in a rematch of the grand final of the seventh edition of the event.
The two sides will take on each other at the Multan Cricket Stadium after an opening ceremony on February 13.
Fakhar said the defending champions' skipper Shaheen Afridi must have created a plan to tackle the Sultans' top-order.
"Shaheen Afridi must have prepared a strategy for Multan's top order, including Mohammad Rizwan. Everyone knows about Rizwan's strength and we will continue to plan against him as we did last season," he said.
Moreover, Fakhar showered massive praise on Shaheen and Haris Rauf.
"Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf have won many matches for Lahore Qalandars. The two players will try to repeat their performance in PSL 8. Our bowling is good. Shaheen and Haris play their heart out, which is beneficial for us," the top-order batter said.
He also shed light on the conditions at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
"Everyone has experience of playing in Multan, the local players are familiar with the conditions, so there will be no difficulty. Dew will not be much of a problem in Multan."
It is worth mentioning here that Fakhar was an integral part of the Qalandars' PSL campaign last year. He was the top-scorer of the seventh edition of the PSL, scoring 588 runs.
Lahore Qalandars will attempt to become the first side to win back-to-back PSL titles.
Rawalpindi will stage 11 fixtures of PSL 8, Karachi and Lahore will host nine matches each, whereas Multan will have five home games.
Lahore Qalandars squad
Rashid Khan, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, David Wiese, Abdullah Shafique, Shane Dadswell, Kamran Ghulam, Zaman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Hussain Talat, Sikandar Raza, Liam Dawson, Dilbar Hussain, Mirza Tahir Baig, Ahmed Danlyal, Shawaiz Irfan, Jordan Cox, Jalat Khan, Ahsan Bhatti, Sam Billings (partial replacement for Rashid Khan) and Kusal Mendis (partial replacement for Jordan Cox)
Sohail Imran Sohail Imran is a senior reporter for Geo News.- Fakhar Zaman