The eighth edition of the PSL has started in Multan in a shower of colors and light. Lahore Qalandar won but Multan team also put up a good fight where Multan opened the PSL and held five matches which is a good sign.  Chairman Najam Sethi’s decision to hold a match in Peshawar during the upcoming PSL is a sign of confidence in the success of the PSL. Now PSL matches should be held in Quetta and especially in Hyderabad. More or less all the cricket teams of the world have played in the Niaz Stadium of Hyderabad, but Hyderabad is being neglected and ignored for a long time now.

It should be noted that the event which started from February 13 in Multan will end on March 19 with the final match in Lahore. So far, Lahore Qalandars, Multan Sultans, Quetta Gladiators, Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi teams have won the PSL once each, while Islamabad United’s team has won the title twice. During the PSL, Multan Sultans have the highest win percentage of 55.54%, Peshawar Zalmi is second with 54.37% and Islamabad third with 53.89%. Quetta Gladiators is fourth with 50.07%, Lahore Qalandars is fifth with 43.75% and Karachi is sixth with 41.09% success ratio in matches. After Peshawar Zalmi, the team that has played the most finals has played in the final three times. Quetta  Gladiators won the trophy in 2019. They were runners-up in the first two events, while three teams, including Islamabad United, Lahore Qalandar and Multan Sultan, managed to play in the finals twice. The teams of Lahore and Multan have been able to win the trophy once each. The team of Islamabad has been able to win the trophy twice. However, Karachi Kings are the only team that reached the final of the fifth PSL in 2020 and managed to win the trophy.

If the individual performance of the players in PSL is evaluated, the current captain of the national cricket team and Babar Azam, who led Peshawar Zalmi for the first time, is at the top by scoring 2143 runs in 68 matches.  But he was still waiting to score a century in the PSL. In second place is Kamran Akmal who has managed to score 1972 runs in 75 matches, he is not included in PSL this time.  Kamran Akmal holds the distinction of scoring three centuries during the PSL so far. While Sharjeel Khan, two Fakhar Zaman, Riley Russo, Cameron Delport, Colin Ingram, Chris Lane, Usman Khawaja, Harry Burwick and Jason Roy have scored one century each. Wahab Riaz holds the unique position of being the only bowler to take a hundred wickets during the PSL. Wahab Riaz has taken 103 wickets in 77 matches. Hasan Ali 81, Shaheen Afridi 70 and Shadab Khan 65 have guided the batters to the pavilion. In the absence of Kamran Akmal, the number one wicket keeper is waiting for Rizwan Ahmed. Kamran Akmal has chased 62 batters behind the wickets. While Rizwan has sent 60 batters to the pavilion. Former captain Sarfraz Ahmed has taken 43 catches behind the wickets.  Now let’s see how all the players perform in PSL 8.

The number of foreign players in the world of PSL cricket is not too much, but not less. Some of the big foreign players of some big teams have added to its glory by participating in the PSL. In this regard, in Islamabad United, Colin Munro, Paul Stirling, Alex Hales, Rahmanullah Grubaz, Fazal Haq Farooqui, Moeen Ali. In the Karachi Kings team, Matthew Wade, Imran Tahir, James Vince, James Fuller, Andrew Tye and Tabraiz Shamsi. Now Rashid Khan, David Wiese, Harry Brook, Sikandar Raza, Liam Dawson and Jordan Cox in Lahore team. Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Sherfane Rutherford, Tom Kohler Cadmore, Rovman Powell, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Jimmy Neesham in the Peshawar team. Multan Sultans team includes David Miller, Rilee Rossouw, Josh Little, Akeal Hosein while Quetta Gladiators have Jasin Roy, Naveen Ul Haq, Will Smeed, Wanindu Hisaranga, Odean Smith and Martin Guptill.

Multan Sultans are led by Mohammad Rizwan in PSL 8. He is a strong nerve, batsman and a wicketkeeper with great performance. Lahore Qalandar is led by young Shaheen Afridi. He is the youngest captain of PSL. He is an outstanding bowler in T20 and has taken 176 wickets taking one wicket every 16 balls. Karachi Kings is led by Amad Waseem. He has taken 248 wickets in 282 matches of T20 cricket. He has also managed to score 2599 runs. Peshawar Zalmi is led this time by Babar Azam, the record holder of the national team. During the period, he has achieved the proud feat of setting many records in the world ranking as a better. Quetta Gladiators are led by Sarfaraz Ahmed, he has the honor of being the captain of Quetta Gladiators continuously in PSL. He has scored a total of 3967 runs in T20.  Rather, he has also taken 183 wickets. The leadership of Islamabad is on the shoulders of Shadab Khan. He has made himself known as an all-rounder by scoring 2088 runs and taking 258 wickets.

It is to be seen how the 107 players participating in PSL 8 perform during 34 matches representing six teams and take home the glittering gold trophy. Surely this trophy is the destiny of the team whose players will play brilliantly and aggressively, focus on their performance and be dedicated to winning. At the same time, it will be important that as in the previous PSL due to Covid, despite the implementation of the SOPs, some players violated the code of conduct by breaking the bio-bubble, which led to a controversy. While in the previous PSL, there was tension between the franchise and the cricket board over tax-related issues. Now will the eighth edition of PSL continue without any controversy? Overall, Pakistan Super League has become a successful brand and in the future this league will continue to gain popularity in the world of cricket.

Published in The Daily National Courier, February, 15 2023

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