Daily Times

LAHORE: Lahore Qalandars captain Sohail Akhtar said on Tuesday that he and his men were all charged up to make an impact in their match against Islamabad United when the Pakistan Super League VI resumes at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday (today). Lahore and Islamabad will go toe to toe with the match to start at 2100 PKT time (2000 UAE time). This will be their first encounter in the PSL 6 with their repeat match scheduled for Sunday (June 13). The PSL is returning to UAE where it was born in 2016. The 2017 edition’s final was held in Lahore. The last three games of the 2018 edition were held in Pakistan, last eight matches of the 2019 event were held in Karachi despite the closure of air corridors and operational challenges following the Pulwama incident. The entire 2020 tournament was held from start to finish across four Pakistan venues despite an interruption due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In the 2020 tournament, a large number of foreign internationals participated, including those who had previously refused to travel to Pakistan.

“We are really excited about restarting the PSL 6 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. This venue has been a lucky one both for me and the team. We have worked hard and have gauged the conditions well in the last few days. We have a formidable squad despite the changes in our foreign players and we will play the brand of cricket that has helped us make a big impact in the last season as well as the Karachi-leg of the PSL 6,” Sohail said in a virtual press conference. “All teams are balanced in the tournament and I am sure we will see some real quality cricket, in the Qalandars camp, we are fully focussed on winning the trophy,” he added.

Shadab Khan, skipper of Islamabad, said his team was well prepared to tackle any challenge in the PSL. “We have been practicing for the last four, five days, the team looks well prepared and gelled together. We are fully prepared for the match tomorrow, having practiced hard under the floodlights too. We have gauged the conditions well and hope to give our best on Wednesday. Our players look fit and are raring to go, Hasan Ali has looked in great form and rhythm and so has Faheem Ashraf. Colin Munro has also looked in good shape in the nets. I am very confident that we will give Lahore Qalandars a tough time in the match,” he added.

Squads:

Islamabad United: Shadab Khan (c), Ahmed Saifi Abdullah, Ali Khan, Akif Javed, Asif Ali, Brandon King, Colin Munro, Fawad Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Hussain Talat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Mohammad Akhlaq, Musa Khan, Rohail Nazir, Umar Amin, Usman Khawaja, Zafar Gohar and Zeeshan Zameer.

Lahore Qalandars: Sohail Akhtar (c), Ahmed Danyal, Ben Dunk, Callum Ferguson, Dilbar Hussain, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, James Faulkner, Maaz Khan, Mohammad Faizan, Mohammad Hafeez, Rashid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Seekuge Prasana, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sultan Ahmed, Tim David, Zaid Alam and Zeeshan Ashraf.