KARACHI: Pakistan’s fiery pace attack and “very good” spinners entice overseas players to play in the annual Pakistan Super League (PSL), Australian all-rounder Ben Cutting said on Sunday, adding that the culture of the South Asian country was another attraction for foreign players.
The PSL is Pakistan’s professional T20 cricket league. Launched in 2016, it has entertained cricket fans around the world and is widely regarded as the second-best cricket league around the world after the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Cutting made his PSL debut with Quetta Gladiators in PSL-5 and was again picked up by the franchise in 2021. Last year, he played for Peshawar Zalmi and this year the Australian all-rounder was signed by Karachi Kings for the ongoing PSL-8.
The 36-year-old all-rounder has the skill to surprise many batters with his quick bouncers, making him an obvious choice of franchises in the world’s top cricket leagues.
“Every [PSL] team’s got three or four guys that can bowl 145 kph (kilometer per hour) plus. Hit or bowl fast, wide Yorkers, straight Yorkers, good bouncers and they’ve always got very good spinners in the team as well,” Cutting said in an exclusive interview with Arab News.
“I think that’s what attracts the overseas players to come back every year and make the tournament even stronger again.”
Cutting, whose wife Erin Holland is one of the presenters for the PSL, said Pakistan’s culture was another attraction for foreign players.
“I absolutely love it, that’s why I come back, you know, every year,” he said, adding that it was his 5th visit to Pakistan.
“I hope I can keep coming back here and keep playing PSL. I love the culture, the food and everything about it.”
Asked about his secret of power-hitting, Cutting said a lot of it was “natural” for him.
“I think a lot of it came from when I was playing cricket against my little brother and friends as a kid in our backyard that game that we had in the backyard was all set up for power-hitting and hitting straight back over the bowler’s head,” he said.
“The important thing for me is a lot of the power comes from the base rather than the top half of your body and locking your elbows out, that sort of thing.”
Cutting’s side Karachi has a cricket rivalry with Lahore, which is often likened to an India-Pakistan or Australia-England rivalry. Same goes for the food rivalry between the two largest Pakistani cities.
Asked to draw a comparison, Cutting said he enjoyed food in Karachi.
“Haven’t really had much of a chance, particularly in the last couple of visits with COVID too. You can’t get out of the hotel and go to restaurants and sample a lot of the local food,” he said.
“So, it’s really been a hotel ban for the last couple of years. I did enjoy Karachi, there was a really nice sushi place. We got to sampling Karachi. So, it was very nice.”
