Haider Ali says he’s looking forward to working under Mickey Arthur and playing his natural aggressive game, after arriving in England ahead of the 2023 season.
The Pakistan opener has signed for the entire 2023 season, which begins against Worcestershire in the LV= County Championship on Thursday, and has joined up with the squad for training at The Incora County Ground.
The big-hitting batter was part of the Pakistan side which finished as runners up in the 2022 ICC Twenty20 World Cup and has played more than 30 times at international level.
Having seen the impact that Arthur had during his time coaching Pakistan between 2016-2019, Ali is excited to player under the Head of Cricket for Derbyshire and says he hopes to entertain the Members and supporters this season.
“I’m very excited, it’s my first time playing county cricket and I love the coaching of Mickey Arthur,” he said.
“I think it’s difficult for anyone to play all formats, but I’m lucky to have the opportunity and I’m so excited to get started. It has been a dream of mine to play under Mickey, as soon as he called I said ‘I’m ready to play county cricket for Derbyshire’.
“In Pakistan, our red ball cricket has completely different situations because it’s always hot weather, the pitches are not so good for seamers. In England, the pitches will be good for seam and swing.
“I’ve spoken to the coaches and they can help me, but I can still play my natural game. I like to attack the bowler, but every bowler is a good bowler in county cricket, so you need to choose bowlers to play your natural game against.
“In white ball cricket, I can play to the team requirements. If I need to be aggressive, I can do that, but if I need to bat 15-20 overs, I can do that too. I’m really excited to experience the Derbyshire crowd.”
The season starts next month, see it all with Membership.
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