Peshawar Zalmi pacer Chris Jordan, who was one of the foreign players to visit Lahore for the final of the second edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), said that playing in Pakistan was brilliant experience.
While talking to the ECB official website from Hong Kong, the English pacer said that he was surprised by the passion for cricket he witnessed in Pakistan.
“I was glad I was able to be there and experience it. I’ll be able to say I played cricket in Pakistan and won the trophy. It was a brilliant experience.” Said Jordan “The reception we got said it all. They cheered every single ball for both teams, from ball one to the last. Their passion for cricket was immense. You’re on the boundary and you have people chanting your name!
“It was immense and I had no idea that the passion for cricket was so great in Pakistan. The crowd in Lahore were brilliant – they really made the final.”
Talking about his short trip to Lahore, the 28-year-old termed the experience as ‘surreal’ and ‘unreal’.
“It was pretty surreal,” he said. “Obviously from making the decision to go, we were well briefed and everything was well documented about how everything was going to run from the time we left on the plane from Dubai to the time we got back.
“As soon as we landed in Lahore, we were met by military guys, escorted straight onto a bus and had a 10-minute drive to the hotel with a full escort. The road was cordoned off and no-one was on the streets – it was a bit unreal!”
The right-arm pacer also praised the high standard in the PSL 2, and said that the league was right up there with other best league in the world.
“In terms of the standard, I think it was very high,” added Jordan. “Every single team had some high quality overseas players and also the local talent was very, very good. It’s good they had a rule that each team had to play one emerging player, so you have a youngster coming through all the time.
“If you check all the overseas players, you had the likes of Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Kevin Pietersen, Brendon McCullum, Sunil Narine, Jason Roy, Eoin Morgan, the list goes on. The competition was very high. There were a lot of last over and last ball finishes.
“There were some very exciting games and that’s what made it so competitive and a great spectacle. In comparison to all the other leagues, it was right up there in terms of putting yourself in pressure situations and having to deliver for your team.”
