Afghanistan pace bowler Naveen-ul-Haq has said that contrary to perception that T20 and T10 cricket are the same, they are two different formats and the challenges one faces in the latest version of the game are far more that in T20 cricket.
Naveen-ul-Haq, who is competing for Team Abu Dhabi in Season 5 of the Abu Dhabi T10, said on Saturday that the tournament was helping him grow as a cricketer.
"Both T10 and T20 are different formats. In T20s, a player gets time to change things to help his team recover. In T10, even if one over goes wrong with the bat or ball, the pressure increases. Hence, T10 is more enjoyable for fans and players. But it is a tough format for bowlers," the Afghan cricketer who was part of the side during the ICC T20 World Cup, said.
Naveen said he always looks to bowl dot balls in T10 games. "I always work on my strengths irrespective of the format. But you must also be unpredictable as a bowler. Every dot ball is gold in this format and I try for that. I also try to save myself from big hits. It is a batsmen's game," he said.
Team Abu Dhabi have won all five games so far and are being seen as favourites to win the trophy this year. Speaking on the bonding within the team, Naveen said, "We share a good camaraderie in the dressing room. All teams in this competition are equally strong. We have won multiple games in a row against such strong teams which gives us self-belief that we can win matches from any position. All our players share ideas about what we think is working under certain conditions," Naveen said.