Daily Times

Pakistan Super League (PSL) is set to kick-off on Thursday as six teams would lock-horns against one another to battle for this year’s ultimate prize. Here is a preview of the participants, their strengths, weakness and chances.

Multan Sultans – 5 stars

The debutants from City of the Saints look stacked on all ends. Multan Sultans, convened by veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik and mentored by the Sultan of Swing himself, Wasim Akram, have been making a lot of noise in both mainstream and social media. The city did not feature in last two editions of Pakistan’s biggest cricketing Mela, but they have managed to cherry-pick some of the very best names in the business.

Multan’s star-studded unit includes captain Shoaib Malik, vice-captain Kieron Pollard, Thisara Parera, Ahmed Shehzad, Imran Tahir, Darren Bravo, Sohail Tanvir, Junaid Khan, Kumar Sangakkara, Umar Gul, Mohammad Irfan among others. The team appears exciting and expectations obviously are high. Sultans have a batting line-up which calls for fireworks, and on top of that, they have very reliant balling weaponry available at their arsenal making Multan an explosive, experienced and a balanced squad.

On paper, there is no stronger team that the aforementioned, but since games are not won on paper, let’s not just get carried away with stardom.

Quetta Gladiators – 4.5 stars

Another team that promises an exciting PSL season: Quetta Gladiators, finalists of the league’s first and second edition, look better than ever after luring veterans of the game during season 3 draft. The team from Balochistan has enjoyed more success than any other franchise in previous two editions with a win-percentage of 63.

The addition of Shane Watson and Afghan spin-wizard Rashid Khan has given the Quetta faithful a lot to cheer about. Moreover, Kevin Pietersen, Jason Roy, Bangladesh’s powerhouse Mahmudullah Riyad and Asad Shafiq with Sarfaraz Ahmed pulling the strings guarantees another promising year for the Gladiators. Hopefully, this time around, the team’s foreign stars would not desert the squad if the franchise qualifies for the knockouts.

Last year, all buzz was buried when Kevin Pietersen, Luke Wright and others opted to quit the team since they would not prefer a visit to Pakistan.

The team, however, looks up and ready for another successful year in the PSL and cricket fans countrywide expect big things from the purple knights. Will they be third-time lucky?

Peshawar Zalmi – 4.5 stars

Albeit Shahid Afridi parted ways with his cousin-owned franchise from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the team still looks solid on paper. The defending champions, for a second year running, will be captained by Darren Sammy, who enjoys public support like any other Pakistani cricketer, or perhaps maybe more.

The more prominent names from the Zalmis include Darren Sammy, Muhammad Hafeez, Hasan Ali, Kamran Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Chris Jordan, Andre Fletcher, Shakib Al Hassan and Tamim Iqbal. The Peshawar squad is stacked.

Moreover, the team has the heartthrob of Pakistan film industry Hamza Ali Abbasi and the stunning Mahira Khan as its ambassadors. Although, the two might not help much when it comes to cricket, they do, however, gift Peshawar with a cutting edge over other franchises as far as marketing is concerned.

Karachi Kings – 4 stars

‘Home is where the heart is’, they say, and it proved true in Shahid Afridi’s case. After spending two seasons at his cousin, Javed Afridi’s Peshawar Zalmi, Pakistan cricket’s superstar decided to switch cities. He decided to make to move to Karachi, a place he regards as his home.

Lala has been living in Karachi since he was a kid and it is reason why he joined the Kings. Contrary to the previous editions, Karachi looks more solid than ever. They have a well-rounded starting eleven including Afridi himself, Muhammad Amir, Babar Azam, Imad Wasim, Eoin Morgan, Lendl Simmons, David Wiese, Tymal Mills and season one MVP Ravi Bopara.

The team had underperformed in Shoaib Malik’s guardianship, but now that Karachi has brought in the most popular cricket in Pakistan, and possibly around the globe, improvements are certain. Do not be surprised if Afridi leads his team to their first and his personal second PSL prize.

Lahore Qalandars – 3.5 stars

For a city that eats, sleeps and breathes cricket, Lahore has failed to live up to expectations. Finishing bottom of the table for two seasons running is far from an achievement for the city, and it seems as if the future of Qalandars does not seem very bright either.

In previous two editions, Lahore had a woeful balling line-up. Batting wise, the team was not superior to other partakers either. This year around, however, the team has made some promising changes in their balling department. Bangladesh’s young starlet Mustafizur Rehman and New Zealand’s Mitchell McClenaghan provide the much needed trickery, while Sohail Khan’s signing guarantees good performances this year around.

Batting wise, the team is similar to a coin toss. With skipper Brendan McCullum, Fakhar Zaman and Umar Akmal at top of the order, it’s either a master blaster performance or a quick walk back to the pavilion. There’s hardly an in-between. Moreover, Chris Lynn and Cameron Delport are decent players, but they do lack experience at the top level.

One might not expect Lahore to dominate and annihilate opponents, but it’s safe to say that this seasons calls for improvements and they will be seen.

Islamabad United – 3.5 stars

In comparison to the aforementioned teams, Islamabad United, unfortunately, does not possess the sheen this edition. The team not only let a key player in Shane Watson slip away, it also saw mentor and coach in legendary Wasim Akram join hands with the newcomers, Multan Sultans.

But despite the pre-season slip-ups, and despite the shortage of plenty of mainstream stars, United have a competitive team under the leader of Misbah-ul-Haq. JP Duminy, Steven Finn, Andre Russel and Muhammad Sami have a responsibility as seniors, while Rumman Raees, Shadab Khan, Alex Hales and Faheem Ashraf promise energy and enthusiasm to the ranks.

The team, is a clear underdog this time around, but how often has Misbah faced such a situation? and how often has he produced results?

Islamabad United are not the most popular or lethal on paper, but they have experience in their ranks and having already won the competition once, they must know a way out, up and above.