The pain is real. A brilliant fifer in the opening game of the season, but a tough loss at the end. Fazalhaq Farooqi ended the match against the Dubai Capitals with mixed feelings. He came out to speak to the media in the post-match press conference, and spoke about his skills, his bowling plans, the conditions. Excerpts.. 

On his brilliant bowling spell

Firstly, I’d like to thank God. I had a good start to the tournament, but sadly we lost the game. We will come back strong. My target isn’t to only take wickets. I look at the wicket first and then look to attack the stumps accordingly. My plan was simple, to bowl as many dot balls as possible. I got success just doing that. 

On everyone backing Kieron Pollard to finish the game 

We were hoping for the same. Such is cricket, sometimes people don’t defend even 20 runs, sometimes they defend even six runs. But we will come back. 

On his bowling plans at the start

When Akeal Hosein bowled the first over, I asked him if it was swinging, and he said yes. When I bowled the first ball, it swung, and then I just looked to keep it simple. I just looked to swing the ball. 

Thoughts on the target for MI Emirates at the halfway mark

I knew it wouldn’t be easy. The wicket wasn’t easy and even good batters in their side couldn’t score runs easily. I knew we could win the game if we played sensibly. Unfortunately, we lost four wickets in the powerplay. 

On playing in Abu Dhabi

The conditions in January in the UAE tend to help swing bowlers. So my focus is just to look for support and back my skills to perform well for my team.