Daily Times

Numerous overseas cricketers have reasserted their credentials by featuring in the Pakistan Super League with Luke Ronchi, player of the tournament in 2018, being the prime example. While the coming PSL is a chance to shine for many budding cricketers of Pakistan, it is also an opportunity for the visiting players to prove their worth and take their T20 careers to greater heights. A look at some of the players who will be aiming to play a bigger role in the PSL:

Philip Salt (Islamabad United): The 22-year-old is a wicketkeeper-batsman from Wales who plays county cricket for Sussex. Salt was Islamabad United’s third pick in this season’s PSL Player Draft mainly because of his ability to score at a brisk pace. In England’s domestic T20 competition last year, the Welshman scored 355 runs at a stunning strike-rate of 172.33 and also hit four half-centuries. He also played three T20s for Lahore Qalandars in Abu Dhabi T20 Trophy last year in October in which his scores, while batting in the lower-order, were 37 not out, 15 and 26. Salt has also opened the innings for Sussex and, if he does same in PSL 2019, United could have the most destructive opening pair in the tournament.

Liam Livingstone (Karachi Kings): The 25-year-old captained Lancashire to the semi-final round in England’s domestic T20 competition last year, but the most glaring aspect of his performance in the tournament was his batting strike-rate. He scored 318 runs at a strike-rate of 188.16, the third highest in the competition, and also scored a 51-ball 100 against Derbyshire. The Lancastrian was picked by Karachi Kings as one of the supplementary players, but will be available for the whole tournament. In his most recent T20 match, he handed England Lions a win against Pakistan A in Abu Dhabi. Opening the bowling with his leg-spin, Livingstone took three top-order wickets and also scored 35 not out off 19 balls.

Sandeep Lamichhane (Lahore Qalandars): The Nepalese spin wizard will be the only player from the ICC’s associate teams in the PSL 2019. Such is his demand in franchise cricket that even though he made his T20 debut only 10 months ago, Lahore Qalandars will be his sixth team in the T20 leagues. In the ongoing league in Australia, the 18-year-old has taken 11 wickets for Melbourne Stars at an average of 13.45 and an economy of just 6.83. The Qalandars will be hoping he carries this form to PSL. Since he will be playing alongside Yasir Shah, the Qalandars could have the best leg-spinning pair in PSL 2019.

Laurie Evans (Multan Sultans): The 31-year-old batsman from England will feature in the PSL for the first time after he was picked by Multan Sultans in the silver category. Evans was the top run-getter in England’s domestic T20 competition with 614 runs at an average of 68.22 and a strike rate of 135.84. That helped Sussex to reach the final of the tournament. In the past 12 months, he has scored 1,258 runs at 54.69 in T20 cricket. And as recently as last month, while playing in Bangladesh Premier League, he hit his maiden T20 century. With Steve Smith and Nicholas Pooran not available, the Sultans will be banking on his batting expertise in the coming PSL.

Published in Daily Times, February 13^th 2019.