Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2019.

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Well deserved Captaincy , Sami is a great role model fully Deserved

 

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Hyderabad's Hasnain replaces emerging pacer Naseem Shah in Quetta Gladiators

Mohammad Hasnain has replaced injured pacer Naseem Shah in the Quetta Gladiators squad for the HBL PSL 2019, which commences on 14 February.

In a repeat of the 2016 final, the Gladiators will take on Peshawar Zalmi in their tournament opener on 15 February in Dubai.

Naseem, who impressed the Quetta Gladiators team management with his performances for the Pakistan U19 and ZTBL on the domestic circuit, was one of the most talked-about emerging picks at this year’s HBL PSL Player Draft.

The 16-year-old pacer from Lower Dir is currently going through a rehabilitation programme at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore where the experts feel he will require more time to recover from his lower back injury.

“I am obviously gutted that I will not be taking part in the HBL PSL 2019. My focus right now is on making a proper recovery so I can play for a long time to come and I am working hard with NCA staff to overcome this injury,” Naseem said.

Hasnain, 18-year-old from Hyderabad, will be looking to make his mark in the Quetta Gladiators team under the captaincy of Sarfaraz Ahmed after having missed out the 2018 edition for Islamabad United due to an injury.

“I am excited with the opportunity to play in HBL PSL 2019 for Quetta Gladiators and I can’t wait to share the dressing room with the leading stars of international cricket,” said Hasnain.

“We have so many seniors in our team including our captain Sarfraz Ahmed, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Sohail Tanvir and Sunil Narine. This is nothing short of a dream coming true for an aspiring cricketer like myself.

“Last year was an extremely frustrating experience for me and I can feel for Naseem and what he must be going through,” Hasnain said.

Quetta Gladiators coach Moin Khan said: “We believe in Naseem Shah’s ability and we are confident that this is just a minor bump in what will hopefully be a successful career.

“The Gladiators will continue to support Naseem and we look forward to handing him his purple cap at some point in the future. At the same time, we welcome Hasnain to our squad. He is another young prospect and we will offer him our full support to hone his skills and learn from a professional Quetta Gladiators team environment.”

Quetta Gladiators Media and Player Acquisition Head Nabeel Hashmi said: “Hasnain is someone who can generate serious pace and has the potential to become the next big fast bowling sensation from Pakistan.”

 

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Darren Sammy launches official kit of Peshawar Zalmi for PSL 4

ISLAMABAD: Darren Sammy launched the official kit of Peshawar Zalmi for Pakistan Super League fourth edition (PSL-4) here on Wednesday.

In a video Darren Sammy while playing Rabab-- traditional music instrument of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, uncovered the official Peshawar Zalmi kit for the PSL 2019.

 

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Sammy, Ronchi, Bopara and Dawson reflect on their time as part of HBL PSL
February 08, 2019

"I have a very special relationship with Pakistan and every time I interact with Pakistani fans or play in front of them, it just fills my heart with so much joy,”says Sammy.

HBL Pakistan Super League has sported the appearance of 77 foreign international cricket stars over the past three editions.

England leads the charts, with the number of its players that have graced PSL pitches at 24. 17 West Indian players, nine South Africans, seven Bangladeshi, six each from Australia and New Zealand, four from Sri Lanka, two from Zimbabwe and one each from Afghanistan and Netherlands are part of those 77.

According to New Zealand's Luke Ronchi — currently sporting an Islamabad United jersey — there was a lot of excitement all around when the team landed in Karachi for the HBL PSL final last year.

"The energy in the city was amazing and it felt like we were part of a big festival," Ronchi said.

He added: “Winning the HBL PSL trophy for Islamabad United in Karachi is a memory that I will cherish for a long time. The game got pretty close for our liking in the end, but it was nice to see the fans getting to watch some exciting cricket."

The wicket-keeper opening batsman topped the batting charts in the HBL PSL 2018 with 435 runs at a staggering strike-rate of 182.00.

Daren Sammy, the West Indies all-rounder who captains Peshawar Zalmi, has cultivated a strong bond with his fans through his performance in HBL PSL.

"I have a very special relationship with Pakistan and every time I interact with Pakistani fans or play in front of them, it just fills my heart with so much joy,” Sammy said.

“When we all took that first step with the HBL PSL 2017 final in Lahore, we knew we were doing something much more important than just playing a game of cricket. From that point onwards, we have seen a slow but very steady return of high-profile cricket to Pakistan."

“Seeing young kids in Pakistan enjoying the game at the stadium, hopefully learning a thing or two from some of us cricketers, and then going on to be a part of the next generation of cricketers, that is just a beautiful feeling to have. I am just very glad that I was able to play a small but meaningful role in this entire process.”

Ravi Bopara, England all-rounder and most talked about overseas cricketer in the inaugural edition of HBL PSL in 2016 is a member of the Karachi Kings squad.

He finished the tournament with 329 runs and 11 wickets, the highlight being his 43-ball 71 not out innings followed by six wickets for 16 runs against Lahore Qalandars in Sharjah. He also took three wickets in the eliminator against Zalmi in Lahore last year.

"The energy in Lahore last year was amazing. I cannot forget how the fans welcomed us with open arms and all of them - young and old - had incredible passion for the game. I remember it rained a lot before our game against Zalmi and the organisers brought in helicopters to get the field ready. That is how much it meant to them," he said.

England's Liam Dawson has played the tournament for Peshawar Zalmi and in his very first match he bagged three wickets for 20 runs against Qalandars in Sharjah in 2018.

Reflecting on his time as part of the franchise, Dawson says: "I had the pleasant experience of playing three games in Pakistan last year and I have to say that the crowds in Pakistan are just on another level. They obviously want more cricket back home so each game was a special experience for us as players."

He added: “I remember having the option of heading back to Dubai after the play-off in Lahore and then flying back to Karachi for the final but once I got there and saw the way everything was organised, it just felt very safe and I stayed on. I am glad that I made that choice."

 

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Sharjah would host a total of eight HBL PSL games; the historic venue with the record for staging most One-Day-Internationals (236) will be the centre stage for the HBL PSL matches for the fourth successive year since the inception of the league in 2016.


Tickets for the #HBLPSL 2019 Sharjah leg are now available online on www.q-tickets.com/psl.

More Details: https://bit.ly/2R9fWia

The Pakistan Cricket Board today announced that the ICC’s international panel umpire Michael Gough will travel to Lahore to umpire in the HBL PSL 2019.


https://www.psl-t20.com/michael-gough-to-umpire-in-lahore-as-pcb-announces-match-officials-for-hbl-psl-2019/

 

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It's time the tournament was held in Pakistan 100%

 

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Karachi Kings eye maiden PSL title

Franchise qualified for the play-offs stage in first three editions

09 February, 2019

Karachi Kings have always had the backing of an impassioned Karachiite fan base but their performances in the first three editions of Pakistan Super League (PSL) have left a lot to desire.

They have lost 17 matches out of a total of 30 over the course of first three seasons and have only registered a win on 12 of those occasions.

Despite qualifying for the play-offs stage in the first three seasons, the Kings have never looked in contention to lift the title. At times their progress was restricted by poor squad selection, especially during the first and second edition, while injuries to key players — Imad Wasim and Shahid Afridi — reduced their probability of success in the third edition.

But one thing which would keep their fans realistically optimistic about their chances is the consistent improvement in their performance over the first three seasons. They finished fourth on the table in the first edition followed by a move up to the third and second spot, in the next couple of seasons respectively.

Strengths

The batting department of the Kings is probably the strongest aspect of their squad.

Pakistan’s Babar Azam and New Zealand’s Colin Munro form a formidable opening pairing for the Kings while their middle-order is beefed up by another in-form player in the shape of South Africa’s Colin Ingram.

Azam’s presence at the top of the order will play a key role in setting the tone for their batting display. If he keeps up with his rich vein of form, Kings will have little to worry about in the batting department.

Azam’s opening partner, Munro has a career strike-rate of 161.82, which is highest for any batsman with at least, 1,000 runs in T20Is. The Kiwi’s ability to hit sixes at will can pose a lot of problems for the team’s opponents, especially in the powerplay overs.

Ingram has also been in good form with the bat, heading into the fourth edition of PSL. He is currently representing the Adelaide Strikers during the ongoing Big Bash League in Australia and has scored 333 runs in 13 matches at a healthy strike-rate of 138.75.

The Kings also have the likes of England’s Ravid Bopara and Pakistan’s Imad Wasim to provide finishing touches at the backend of their innings, due to their ability to score runs at brisk pace lower down the order.

Weakness

Kings might possess some good names in their pace bowling department but the lack of consistency in their bowlers’ performances will be a worrying sign for the franchise.

Amir made a comeback in the Pakistan side during the recently concluded tour of South Africa but his performances were not up to the mark. He seemed off-colour with the ball and had little to show for in terms of victims in the wickets column, in all three formats.

Fellow left-arm pacer Usman Khan Shinwari has fared better than Amir, in the international arena, during the recent past but his tendency to blow hot and cold at times can have a negative impact on the team’s performance. Despite picking up 16 wickets in the previous edition, Shinwari conceded runs at more than eight-runs-per-over.

Right-arm pacer Sohail Khan was the highest wicket-taker in the second season of PSL but he has quickly fallen off the radar since then. He last played an international match for Pakistan in September, 2017 and has had little impact in domestic circuit, over the past year or so.

Player to watch out for

Pakistan’s Babar Azam’s has a lot of admirers in international cricket and for good reason. The right-handed batsman has piled loads of runs, over the past 18 months for Pakistan, and he would be keen to replicate the same sort of form while donning Karachi’s colours.

Over the past 12 months, Azam has 10 scores of over 40 or more in T20Is, which speaks volumes about his consistency. The right-handed batsman also became the quickest to 1,000 runs in T20Is — a record which was previously held by India’s Virat Kohli.

Azam’s batting is going to be of pivotal importance to Karachi’s chances of going deep in the tournament.

Captaincy

The Kings will be led by Pakistan all-rounder Imad Wasim, just like he did in the third edition before injury ruled him out of the tournament.

Wasim did reasonably well as captain during the third edition and the Kings would be expecting something similar in the next edition as well. His captaincy will play a key role in bringing the most out of the squad at his disposal.

Perhaps a good omen for the franchise is that Wasim is heading into the tournament on the back of some good performances for the national side, which is going to add to his confidence as the captain of the franchise.

The Kings may not possess a title-winning squad but the manner in which Wasim leads the side can turn the odds in their favour.

Squad

Overseas: Colin Munro (New Zealand), Colin Ingram (South Africa), Ravi Bopara (England), Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe), Aaron Summers (Australia), Ben Dunk (Australia) and Liam Livingstone (England).

Local: Mohammad Amir, Babar Azam, Imad Wasim, Usman Shinwari, Mohammad Rizwan, Awais Zia, Usama Mir, Sohail Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ali Imran, Abrar Ahmed, Aamer Yamin, Jaahid Ali and Umer Khan.

 

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PSL 2019 - PSL Schedule with all PSL 4 matches and schedule for all franchises

The PSL schedule 2019 features 34 T20 matches to be played between six franchises. The Pakistan Super League 2019 edition, PSL 2019, is scheduled to take place from February 14th 2019 to March 17 2019. The tournament, which is officially labeled as 'HBL PSL 2019' and formally referred to as 'PSL 4', would kick off with the PSL opening ceremony being held in the UAE on February 14th.

The Pakistan Cricket Board had successfully arranged matches in UAE and Pakistan in the last edition of PSL.



The PSL 4 opening game will be played on 14th February between Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars in Dubai.

PSL 2019 Schedule

Date Day Match Venue

14th February Thursday Islamabad United vs Lahore Qalandars Dubai
15th February Friday Multan Sultans v Karachi Kings Dubai
15th February Friday Peshawar Zalmi v Quetta Gladiators Dubai
16th February Saturday Islamabad United v Multan Sultans Dubai
16th February Saturday Lahore Qalandars v Karachi Kings Dubai
17th February Sunday Islamabad United v Quetta Gladiators Dubai
17th February Sunday Peshawar Zalmi v Lahore Qalandars Dubai
20th February Wednesday Quetta Gladiators v Multan Sultans Sharjah
21st February Thursday Peshawar Zalmi v Karachi Kings Sharjah
22nd February Friday Multan Sultans v Lahore Qalandars Sharjah
22nd February Friday Islamabad United v Peshawar Zalmi Sharjah
23rd February Saturday Quetta Gladiators v Lahore Qalandars Sharjah
23rd February Saturday Islamabad United v Karachi Kings Sharjah
24th February Sunday Peshawar Zalmi v Multan Sultans Sharjah
24th February Sunday Quetta Gladiators v Karachi Kings Sharjah
26th February Tuesday Multan Sultans v Islamabad United Dubai
27th February Wednesday Lahore Qalandars vs Quetta Gladiators Dubai
27th February Wednesday Karachi Kings v Islamabad United Dubai
28th February Thursday Multan Sultans vs Peshawar Zalmi Dubai
28th February Thursday Karachi Kings v Lahore Qalandars Dubai
1st March Friday Peshawar Zalmi vs Islamabad United Dubai
1st March Friday Multan Sultans v Quetta Gladiators Dubai
4th March Monday Quetta Gladiators vs Peshawar Zalmi Abu Dhabi
4th March Monday Karachi Kings v Multan Sultans Abu Dhabi
5th March Tuesday Lahore Qalandars vs Peshawar Zalmi Abu Dhabi
5th March Tuesday Quetta Gladiators v Islamabad United Abu Dhabi

In Pakistan

7th March Thursday....... Karachi Kings v Peshawar Zalmi................ Karachi

9th March Saturday....... Lahore Qalandars v Islamabad United .......Lahore

10th March Sunday....... Karachi Kings vs Quetta Gladiators............. Karachi

10th March Sunday........ Lahore Qalandars v Multan Sultans ............Lahore

12th March Tuesday....... Eliminator 1 - #3 vs #4....... Lahore

13th March Wednesday.. Qualifier - #1 vs #2............. Karachi

15th March Friday............. Eliminator 2.................... Karachi

17th March Sunday............. FINAL............................ Karachi

 

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Special measures being taken to make PSL successful: Iftikhar

February 09, 2019

Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shallwani says special measures are being taken to make the PSL matches safe, successful and memorable.

He was chairing a review meeting in Karachi today (Saturday) for the arrangements for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches set to be held in the city next month.

He said the surroundings of the National Stadium and different areas as well roads and intersections of the metropolis will be decorated while steps are being taken for the arrangement of live streaming at ten different parks in the city.

The meeting decided that deputy commissioners of all areas would take steps to ensure smooth staging of matches.

It was also decided that the images of cricket heroes will be displayed in different parts of the city.

 

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Will Lahore Qalandars be fourth time lucky?

As many as 16 new faces have a chance to represent PSL franchise in fourth edition

10 February, 2019

PHOTO COURTESY: Twitter/@PSL

Lahore Qalandars are perhaps the most followed Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise in the country and that is because they’ve proved time and again that they are the most consistent team in the tournament.

Unfortunately that consistency has always come at the wrong side of the table, as they’ve finished last in all of three editions.

The franchise, which is named after the capital of the province of Punjab, has only managed to win eight matches out of a total of 26 — a tally which made the hierarchy make wholesale changes in the squad for the upcoming edition.

As many as 16 new faces will be in contention to represent Qalandars this season, which is why a much-improved show is expected from the team in PSL4.

The team will be captained by Pakistan veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez, who has the experience of playing 256 T20s in his career, where he has scored 5,394 runs at an average of 24.51 and has also claimed 162 wickets.

Strengths

Qalandars have always found themselves wanting in the previous editions, either with the bat or with the ball, and it felt that they were a player short in both of these departments at crucial times. However, this time around, the management has turned their focus on having a team full of all-rounders, which is why their balance looks the best on paper.

Likes of Hafeez, New Zealand duo of Anton Devcich and Corey Anderson, West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite, young Hassan Khan and South Africa’s David Wiese are not only players who can offer with both bat and all but they are all different in their own manner, something which will add value to the Qalandars’ squad in the competition.

With all of those options on the table, Hafeez will feel that Qalandars have enough resources to produce positive results on the pitch this time around.

Weakness

Lahore Qalandars’ squad gives you the feeling that they have all their bases covered — at least on the paper. However, their spin department is something which can be exploited by the other teams.

The team will have the services of Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah, Nepal’s young sensation Sandeep Lamichhane and young left-arm spinner Hassan.

Some people will say that those options look decent enough but that might not be the case in the competition as Shah has not really established himself as a champion spinner in the shorter formats, while Lamichhane will be playing in his debut season — that too against players who are normally better players of spin — and Hassan is an intelligent but very limited spinner as he showed in the previous season with the Quetta Gladiators.

Players to watch out for

Shaheen Afridi’s rise from a rookie in the PSL last year to one of the best young bowlers around is worth taking note of.

The left-armer started the previous tournament as someone who was tipped as the next big thing and was identified as an extremely talented bowler. But 12 months later, the Khyber Agency-born pacer is one of the leading pacers in the country.

The 18-year-old has the experience of playing three Tests, 10 ODIs and nine T20Is for Pakistan where he has collectively claimed 44 wickets, which shows he will be a different bowler all together in the coming season. Shaheen claimed seven wickets in seven outings in PSL season three at an average of 28.14 and strike-rate of 8.32.

Captaincy

Hafeez will be leading the side for the first time in the PSL and Qalandars will be hoping that he can help the team in producing much better results than they did in previous three editions.

The 38-year-old has the experience of leading Pakistan cricket team in T20Is and guided the Men in Green to World T20 semi-finals.

His captaincy style is based on planning than instincts and therefore, it will be less expansive and more realistic.

As far as his batting is concerned, Hafeez is expected to fill the middle-order role where he had relative success in the recent past.

Lahore Qalandars squad

Overseas: AB de Villiers (South Africa), Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies), Corey Anderson (New Zealand), Sandeep Lamichhanne (Nepal), Anton Devcich (New Zealand) and Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe).

Local: Mohammad Hafeez, Fakhar Zaman, Yasir Shah, Rahat Ali, Agha Salman, Sohail Akhtar, Hassan Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Imran, Maaz Khan, Gauhar Ali, Aizaz Cheema, Haris Rauf and Saad Ali.

 

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5 improvements Pakistan Super League 2019 could use

February 10, 2019

Empty stands during the UAE leg have been an eyesore across the first three editions of the PSL. — File

Last year's Pakistan Super League was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

The T20 league gave the nation an advanced antidote for all the craziness that later followed in what was an election year.

But as good as PSL 2018 was, it wasn't perfect ... because is anything ever is? And since the first step towards improvement is admitting that there is something wrong, here is a whole bunch of things that did not exactly go according to plan.

We share them with the hope that this year's edition would address these issues.

Empty stands, an eyesore

Former PCB chairman Najam Sethi was not wrong when he suggested that the primary audience of T20 leagues, or any sports event for that matter, is not the outdoorsy folk who flock to the stadia, but are the ones who actually prefer to watch the game from the comfort of their homes.

"Gate receipts don't even make up for 10 per cent of our revenue," Sethi had told Saleem Safi in Geo TVprogramme 'Jirga' a day before the PSL 2018 final. "It's the TV audience, the broadcast deal and the advertising money [which fill our coffers]."

The PSL final in Karachi was played in front of a capacity crowd but same was definitely not the case during the UAE leg. — File


Spot on! The PSL mastermind is absolutely correct. All the successful leagues around the world live off their eye-watering TV deals — some of which run into billions of dollars. That's billion with a 'b'. Stop crowding their stadiums and they'll live, but turn off the telly and they'll go out of business in a jiff.

But even if capacity crowds are not necessary for financial purposes, they do matter from an optical standpoint. Which is why the sight of empty seats during PSL's UAE legs was such a turn off.

Several theories were floated to make sense of UAE's lack of enthusiasm. Some thought the league wasn't marketed right locally, while some like Rameez Raja questioned why the PCB hadn't hired tour operators to fly fans out of Pakistan. Whatever it was, the board needs to sort it out and put some bodies in them action-deprived, sun-soaking chairs.

Time wasting

Cricketer-turned-pundit Michael Slater said he had a great time during PSL 2018 but pointed out time wasting and unnecessary delays during matches as thing the league could do without.

"One thing I will say about this tournament is there have been too many delays and stoppages in the matches because the things maybe hasn’t been processed quickly enough from third umpire’s box to get decisions," he said.

Englishman Alan Wikins had agreed with his co-commentator, saying: "I do agree with Slater’s assertion that the matches are taking long with too many delays. In Big Bash there are fines or captains miss matches. Here games are finishing 45 minutes late and that should be look into.”

The duo weren't wrong. In PSL 2018, matches routinely started and ended later than their scheduled time due to needless breaks in between. This is not a Naya Nazimabad cricket tournament. This is PSL, where the P represents Pakistan. The tournament's 2019 version should address this issue.

Matchday experience

The final in Karachi was fun, right? But was the joy also shared by the hundreds of thousands of Karachiites whose lives were affected by the blockage of roads for the PSL final?

A day or two's sacrifice for the overall good was still bearable but with the port city hosting five matches this time around, an alternative plan needs devised. Because no amount of joy generated by sports can cover for the disruption of civic life.

Those who did make it to the final were made to sit on outrageously uncomfortable cement seats in topless stands under the scorching Karachi sun. The PCB's lousy hosting job must have something to do with the fans' lack of interest in the subsequent Windies' visit.

Standard of officiating

The PSL 2019 umpiring panel gave several controversial calls.


The PSL brand isn't famous for its umpiring standards, and 2018 was no different. There were goof-ups, there were blunders, but more importantly there were calls that affected the outcome of matches. This was despite the presence of the great Aleem Dar on the umpiring panel.

Whatever it was, it was ugly. In 2019, better needs doing.

The media game

A sports league is about staging matches, but it's not just that. Before the games begin and after they end, it's the content team's task to keep the fans engaged. The NBAs, the NFLs and the Premier Leagues of the world all have sites that churn out exclusive news stories, features, opinion pieces and whatnot.

Sadly, the PSL offered none of that to the fans who had to make do with just the matchday action. Top leagues are what they are because of their on-field product but also because of the solid media work done week in week out. Without interests piqued and hype generated through intelligent use of the media, it's just 22 random men playing ball.

The league's content strategy in the buildup to the 2019 tournament has shown some signs life but there's a long way to go.

Karachi

 

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Karachi

 

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Team captains for PSL-2019

Emerging talent


As usual, the most fascinating feature of the PSL is the emerging talent. Hasan Ali became an overnight hero from the 2016 edition; and then came Shadab Khan, the young leggie who has grown in stature as one of the most talented young cricketers on the international stage. Shaheen Shah Afridi has graduated to the senior team after a sensational five-for burst for the Qalandars last year in Dubai; and Hussain Talat is doing his best to command a regular berth in the Pakistan T20 team.

Mohammad Hassaan Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Irfan Jr and Ibtisam Sheikh are still searching for the elusive breakthrough to make the Pakistan team, but their dream coming true is probably round the corner.

This year a few young guns will be trying their luck to make the grade. Saif Badar made his PSL debut for Multan Sultans, but the young bloke hardly got a proper opportunity. It’s a shame that the franchises have overlooked not just him but also Khushdil Shah, despite both enjoying decent seasons. Another glaring omission is young opener Zeeshan Malik.

Opener Rizwan Hussain, spinner Umar Khan and 18-year-old paceman Mohammad Hasnain are some of the new faces but their credentials will only be documented if they get the chance to showcase their genuine worth.

On the other hand, there are a couple of inclusions which smack of nepotism in selection matters. How did Jaahid Ali, who hails from a well-to-do family, get a PSL contract for Karachi Kings despite far from being a T20 specialist with a solitary appearance in the format?

 

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Over 40 foreign players to entertain cricket loving crowd in PSL 2019

LAHORE: As the popularity of Pakistan Super League is growing fast among overseas players, in the fourth edition of the tournament, starting from February 14 in Dubai, at least, 40 foreign players will be traveling to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan to entertain the cricket loving crowd.

Among new faces, the South Africa legend AB de Villiers, who holds the record for the fastest ODI century and half-century, is the biggest draw this season along with New Zealand’s Colin Munro, who has the highest strike-rate in T20 Internationals.

Sandeep Lamichhane, a rising leg-spinner from Nepal, will also be making his maiden appearance in the PSL this season whereas the ICC World T20 2016 hero Carlos Brathwaite is also set to make his tournament debut.

As has been the case in the short history of PSL, the largest contingent of overseas talent is coming from England with 12 players, followed by West Indies (eight), Australia (six), South Africa (five), New Zealand (four), Zimbabwe (two) and, Nepal and Wales (one each).

Kieron Pollard (Peshawar Zalmi)

Kieron Pollard, the most capped T20 player of all-time, has moved to Peshawar Zalmi for the fourth PSL. He played the last two seasons for Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans, respectively, and has an overall experience of 445 T20 matches.

Colin Munro (Karachi Kings)

Colin Munro, the swashbuckling opening batsman from New Zealand, was part of the Karachi Kings squad last year as well, but could not play due to national commitments. He will make his debut in Pakistan’s premier T20 tournament this season.

Munro is known for his hard-hitting at the start of the innings. He is one of the only two batsmen in the world – the other being Rohit Sharma – to score three centuries in T20Is and has the highest strike-rate (161.13) for any batsman with at least 1,000 runs in the format.

Shane Watson (Quetta Gladiators)

Shane Watson, the Australia, all-rounder Shane Watson is set to feature in the PSL for the fourth time. He played the first two tournaments for Islamabad United and the last one for Quetta Gladiators. He was one of the players the Gladiators retained before the players draft.

Ian Bell (Islamabad United)

England batsman Ian Bell has been picked by Islamabad United to play PSL for the first time after a stunning season with Birmingham Bears in England’s domestic T20 competition. Bell, with 580 runs at 48.33, was the third highest score in the T20 tournament at home.

He was United’s first pick in the players draft for PSL 2019.

Daniel Christian (Multan Sultans)

Dan Christian, the Australia all-rounder, will be in action for the first time in PSL after he was picked as a supplementary player by Multan Sultans. Christian scored 185 runs and took 13 wickets for Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League in Australia.

Corey Anderson (Lahore Qalandars)

Corey Anderson, the New Zealand all-rounder, is set to make his PSL debut this season with Lahore Qalandars, who share special love with the batsmen who can score at brisk pace.

Anderson’s strike-rate in T20s is above 140 and he also holds the record for the second fastest ODI hundred, which he scored off just 36 balls against the Windies in 2014.