Babar Azam and Sarfaraz Khan were ready to play under each other's captaincy: Quetta Gladiators owner Nadeem Omar

Babar Azam and Sarfaraz Khan were ready to play together (Source: Twitter)

The ninth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) starts Monday, and the premier T20 league has seen an exciting buildup. In a similar light, Quetta Gladiators owner Nadeem Omar had a few interesting revelations to make, per an interview reported by Cricket Pakistan. He said that both Babar Azam and Sarfaraz Khan, arguably Pakistan's big two of T20 cricket, were ready to play under each other's captaincy.

"This is the beauty of both Babar and Sarfaraz that they both were ready to play under each other's captaincy. We played a match against Babar-led Zalmi. I must tell you that Babar is an amazing personality. He is a confident lad who keeps the focus on his work. They had great chemistry, and it never looked like Babar had replaced Sarfaraz as captain of the national side. Both have great respect for each other," said Omar.

"We tried our best to pick Babar, but Zalmi also needed a captain. I don't know what happened. We have been trying to get Babar for the last three years," the 66-year-old added.

Omar explained why Gladiators have not qualified for the playoffs of the last two seasons of the PSL

"We had a lot of availability and injury issues which hampered our performances. Our schedule was also not ideal. Plus, you know what happened with Sarfaraz as well. If the captain is disturbed, the team can't perform well," he said.

"This time, our captain is settled, and his confidence has also increased after performing in the Test series. Our team combination is also really good. We recently went to Quetta and won a hard-fought match. We are hopeful of going all the way this year," the Gladiators owner added.

Sarfaraz Khan will lead the Quetta Gladiators for the eighth consecutive season in the forthcoming Pakistan Super League edition. They play their first game on Wednesday against the Multan Sultans.