Young and aspiring fast bowlers are on show in Pakistan Super League
A billboard with pictures of cricket players is displayed outside the Gaddafi Stadium in preparation for Pakistan Super League in Lahore on Thursday. AP
'Joseph’s mesmerising spell against Australia in the second test at the Gabba in Brisbane secured the pace bowler a last-minute contract with former Pakistan Super League champions Peshawar Zalmi, which will be led by ex-Pakistan all-format captain Babar Azam.
Naseem Shah missed out on the 50-over World Cup in India and also the subsequent test tour of Australia which was followed by five-match Twenty20 series in New Zealand, but he has now regained full fitness from a shoulder injury to represent two-time champion Islamabad United.
Shah was missed in both red-ball and white-ball tours with Australia routing Pakistan 3-0 and the Black Caps winning 4-1.
"It’s challenging if you are coming back from an injury,” Shah said. "In modern T20 cricket, where you see 200 runs being scored, if you get a couple wickets and give under 30 runs, you have bowled a good spell.”
The data-driven Islamabad side has signed Shah’s two brothers — Hunain and Ubaid — and captain Shadab Khan has already hinted all three could play during the month-long tournament being hosted in four major cities.
"You never know all three might come into equation,” Shadab said. Ubaid has recently impressed during the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa where Pakistan narrowly missed out on the final when it got beaten by eventual champion Australia in the semifinals by one wicket.
Islamabad won two of the first three editions of the tournament, but since has missed out on the final five times.
"We believe a lot in data,” Shadab said ahead of his team’s opening game against defending champion Lahore Qalandars, scheduled in Lahore on Saturday. "We didn’t play good cricket, but still we performed well in group stages."
Islamabad has some explosive power-hitters with Azam Khan, Alex Hales and Colin Munro and has strengthened its middle-order by bringing in Karachi Kings former captain Imad Wasim, whose left-arm spin bowling could come in handy at all the four venues in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi.
Peshawar, which won the second edition in 2017, made it to the finals on three more occasions before slipping at the last hurdle. It successfully traded Babar with Karachi last year but couldn’t progress beyond the playoffs.
Quetta Gladiators made a last-minute major change when it named Rilee Rossouw of South Africa as its new captain in place of Sarfaraz Ahmed, who has led the franchise for eight successive years since the event was first held in the United Arab Emirates in 2016.
Quetta has installed Shane Watson as its new head coach in place of Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup winning wicketkeeper-batter Moin Khan with the franchise aiming to end its run of poor results. The 2019 champion Quetta hasn’t able to qualify for the playoffs for the last four successive years with Sarfaraz often facing the brunt of team’s lackluster performances.
Multan, the winner of the 2021 tournament, is the first PSL franchise which has drafted women into its coaching panel with Catherine Dalton its fast bowling coach and Alexandra Hartley spin coach.
"We do not see gender or race, but go for the best available talent and that was exactly the case when we hired Catherine and Alex,” Multan’s owner Ali Tareen said.
Lahore’s lethal pace attack is led by Pakistan Twenty20 skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi, who has led one of the most flamboyant PSL franchise to two back-to-back titles. After its first four timid seasons, Lahore managed to get its team in shape with Afridi, Haris Rauf and Zaman Khan forming a formidable pace attack.
Rauf was in the headlines just 48 hours before he was due to bowl in the first game against Islamabad when his central contract was terminated by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Thursday for refusing to tour to Australia for test series in the absence of injured Naseem Shah.
The two-time defending champion will miss mercurial spinner Rashid Khan due to injury this season and it could be only its weak link. But its strong batting lineup revolve around swashbuckling Fakhar Zaman, Rassie van der Dussen, Shai Hope and Sahibzada Farhan which could pave the way for Lahore to complete hat-trick of titles.
The 2020 winner Karachi Kings have brought in West Indies’ World Cup-winning coach Phil Simmons and handed the captaincy to Pakistan test skipper Shan Masood after a dismal showing last year when it won only three league games.
Associated Press
