KARACHI: Former Pakistan football team captain Kaleemullah has been appointed as the ambassador for the Quetta Gladiators for this year’s Pakistan Super League (PSL), the Chaman-based striker confirmed on Monday. The Tulsa Roughnecks FC striker joins mixed martial artist Ahmed Mujtaba as the ambassador for Sarfraz Ahmed’s men for this season, while he will join the team in Dubai on February 11. Kaleemullah hopes his partnership with the PSL franchise will help grow the sport of football and ensure it reaches a wider audience as cricket is the most popular sport in the country. “This partnership is a great way to promote football,” the 23-year-old said. “Most people in Pakistan are not interested in watching football but I think that this role with the Gladiators will certainly help draw attention to the sport. Cricket is Pakistan’s biggest sport, there is no denying that and PSL is the biggest event. I hope this can help grow the sport of football.” Kaleemullah added that popular sports can help the smaller, less popular sports in a great way, while the achievers should get a chance to be a part of big events in the capacity of being ambassadors for the PSL teams. “This happens everywhere in the world,” said Kaleemullah.
“Sports, which are not so popular in the country, would benefit from the popularity of the PSL. It happened in India and other countries too; star power helps and cricket is one medium that can help football.” He further added: “It isn’t like cricketers don’t like football, they also play it. They follow international football and every cricketer appreciates football. They know about international players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and they follow the foreign leagues too. So I feel this is a great way to spend time with cricketers as well, and we all Pakistanis love cricket including me.”