Virat Kohli Fan Nizakat Khan Desires Franchise Cricket; Thanks Cricket Hong Kong

The fast-paced format of the game, Hong Kong Sixes returned with a bang as it unleashed some scintillating performances to entertain the fans thoroughly. Sri Lanka were crowned the champions for the 2024 edition. Hong Kong’s Nizakat Khan who put up a good show during the competition expressed delight and thanked Cricket Hong Kong, China for hosting the tournament.

“Hong Kong Sixes returned after a gap of seven years. It's a very unique, fast-paced and action packed format. It's a very good form of cricket for the players and pure entertainer for the spectators. I would really like to give credit to Cricket Hong Kong, Ravi Nagdev, Anurag Bhatnagar, Anoop Gidwani and chairperson of our team Burji Shroff. They have really put in a lot of hard work in reviving the tournament. The most important and the biggest thing is that they have made this HK 6s a big success. I'm very thankful to CHK for bringing back the HK 6s,” he said.

Nizakat who was born in Pakistan but shifted bases permanently in 2004 to Hong Kong made his T20I debut against Nepal in March 2014 feels that Hong Kong Sixes is a great opportunity for the players to show their ability at the professional level and also explained the process that goes in the preparation.

“It's a great opportunity for the players to showcase their talent and ability.  In fact, CHK is also trying to bring back Hong Kong Blitz which is T20 franchise cricket. If that happens, it's going to be a very big thing for us as it will open more doors of opportunities for the players,” Nizakat said.  

“The players have that idea that it's a format that runs on a brisk pace. The training is really important. We work on our skills, like the batters have practice the long range shots. The bowlers on the other hand, work more on slower balls, Yorkers and different variations. It's surely is a difficult format for the bowlers and the batters have a slight edge.”

“The players get a good chance to unveil their talent and open doors for franchise cricket in different parts of the world. The HK 6s is a kind of competition where the franchises can find a lot of talent. Honestly, we do have some players in Hong Kong Cricket who have the ability to play franchise cricket. We just need an opportunity to show our talent,” he added.  

The right-handed cricketer is confident that the format has a lot of potential to gain more popularity at the global level.

“Surely, the format can get some popularity at a global level purely because it's a tournament that can conclude in a span of three days. As I said earlier, it's a very entertaining form of the game and engage a lot of fans. Cricket Hong Kong is trying their best to take it to the other countries as well. It will be a great initiative bringing another form of cricket,” Nizakat pointed.  

“Another thing is that, some big names have been a part of the tournament earlier like Sachin Tendulkar. This time we had Robin Uthappa, Stuart Binny, Kedar Jadhav featuring in the competition. So, it surely is a great thing to have these big guns playing the HK 6s,” he further said.

Nizakat has been an integral part of the Hong Kong Sixes for a very long time and has played against big guns at the highest level. He in fact scored 92 against The Men in Blue during the Asia Cup 2018 and led the side against the same opposition during the 2022 edition of the continental tournament.

Mentioning about the Indian team, the Hong Kong player praised the side for their humbleness and added that Virat Kohli is one player whom he looks up to for his professionalism.

“I have a lot of favourite cricketers as I follow the sport very religiously. Virat Kohli is someone I really admire. The professionalism that he has is something very inspiring. The kind of fitness he has and the preparations he does is simply outstanding.”

“The Hong Kong team did get a chance to meet the Indian team. They were really nice to us. In fact, I told Rohit bhai at the toss that the team wants to meet the Indian players. He simply said, "MOST WELCOME"!. After the game, we spent almost an hour with them. They also invited us for dinner. They were very humble and professional. The Indian players patiently stood there for one hour and got clicked with us. Not just this, they also guided us on how we should play the game in coming future. So, we really felt very good about it. That was really special. Even Pakistan welcomed and treated us very nicely,” he said.

The skipper of the Hong Kong team wished India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and also congratulated Rohit Sharma on becoming father again.

"All the best to Team India for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy and I also congratulate Rohit Sharma for becoming father again," Nizakat concluded.