Hasan Raza was in a confident and buoyant mood today ahead of the Quaid E Azam Trophy final as PakPassion caught up with him in Karachi.

"We are all looking forward to the game at the National Stadium. It should be a good game and the fact that it's being televised adds greater interest to the match. I havent seen the wicket yet, but we'll analyse the wicket tomorrow and then pick our XI" stated the HBL skipper.

Raza added "We've been playing some consistent and good cricket throughout the tournament and I'm really pleased that we have made it to the final. The team combinations have worked well and there has been a very good spirit in the camp. The boys have backed each other up and a number of our players have turned in some fine displays".

The fact that HBL have only played one match at the National Stadium so far this season doesn't worry Hasan. "We've played all but one of our matches in Punjab this season and to be honest the wickets have been very sporting wherever we have played. In our previous match at the NSK we beat KRL, but that won't count for anything of course when we play against Karachi Blues".

Hasan who must have been close for selection for the tour of Australia after a consistent run of performances said that it will be a hard fought encounter against Karachi. "They are missing Mohammad Sami who has flown to Australia to join the Pakistan squad, but they still have a lot of talented players in their team so we will have to be at our best".

The Quaid E Azam Trophy final starts on Monday 21st January.