Pakistan’s swashbuckling Twenty20 skipper Shahid Afridi will fly out 150 Army Public School (APS) students to Dubai to watch the inaugural edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), the all-rounder announced during a visit to the school earlier today.
PSL, Pakistan’s franchise-based T20 league, starts next month from February 4 and will feature five teams: Islamabad United, Karachi Kings, Lahore Qalandars, Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators.
Afridi, one of the league’s icon players and captain of the Peshawar side, distributed his team’s official kit to 30 students hailing from different schools of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The 35-year-old all-rounder said the drive of distributing Zalmi’s official kit was aimed at promoting talent in the province and spur them to support the Peshawar side.
“We have a huge [pool] of talent but not enough facilities. Once the PSL ends, I am going to distribute 1,000 official Zalmi kits among students,” said Afridi.
Earlier, Javed Afridi, chief executive of Haier Appliances and owner of Peshawar Zalmi, had dedicated his team to the children and teachers of the APS, who lost their lives in a brutal attack by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan in December 2014.
“Whatever we win will be dedicated to the martyrs of APS. This is our cause, the city’s cause, KPK’s cause,” he said.
“Zalmi, meaning youth, is just not a cricket team. They are ambassadors of our frontiers, exponents of our sportsman spirit that lies in the hearts of every Pakistani.”
Javed Afridi also revealed that a “mega plan” for a cricket academy, established along the lines of the Manchester United Foundation, would be put in place to unearth local talent once the inaugural edition of the PSL ended.
“The whole idea behind this franchise is to promote the players from the North who have often been neglected in the past.”
