Hafeez impressed with Mahela's Captaincy

Mohammad Hafeez, who will lead Pakistan in the upcoming ICC World T20, is also one of their more media-savvy cricketers. An aggressive opening batsman, a useful off-spinner and one of the better fielders, After completing his tenure in SLPL he shared his views on SLPL in an interview. Following are the Excerpts from the interview when he left the SLPL.

Your impressions on the SLPL?
Wayamba had already played a game and looked quite settled when I arrived. I am not ecstatic about my performance but it's reasonable enough considering that I didn't get enough chances.

How did you find Mahela Jayawardene as a captain?
The thing which impressed me about Mahela is the way he deals with youngsters in the squad. He is always ready with suggestions and guidance. For someone with his international experience and stature, he is unbelievably accessible. The youngsters benefit tremendously when he is around in coping with pressure situations. By picking unknown youngsters and backing them, Mahela has contributed greatly to Sri Lanka cricket.

Do you believe T20 leagues contribute to the growth of cricket?
Certainly. As we have also seen in the IPL, tournaments like these present great opportunities for youngsters to perform. A rookie off-spinner like Akila Dananjaya Perera, who hasn't played a single match for Sri Lanka, has been picked in their World T20 squad on the strength of his performance in SLPL alone. It was the same with opening batsman Dilshan Munaweera.