The Pakistan Super League (PSL) concluded its ninth season with Islamabad United clinching a historic third title, Multan Sultans enduring their third consecutive final defeat, and the tournament’s outcome determined on the final ball.
On the cricket field, there was no shortage of excitement with 205 sixes and 476 fours, the 200-run milestone was surpassed 10 times, and four centuries were scored without losing a wicket.
Here are some noteworthy highlights from the recently concluded T20 tournament in Pakistan:
Imad Waseem’s comeback :
Imad Wasim’s name emerged once again in November 2023 but not in the way many fans had expected.The all-rounder had announced his retirement from international cricket, just days after the 2023 World Cup had concluded. Considering he was just 34 years old at that time and still in the best shape of his life, the news came as a shock to many as fans had different views on what had just happened.
A poor start to the PSL 9 campaign, where he not only failed with the bat but also with the ball, sicced a brigade of trolls on him, with some even asking the Islamabad management to bench him.
Here, the 35-year-old rose to the occasion and played a match-winning knock of 30* on 13 balls against Multan Sultans in their last group match, which steered United into the eliminators.
Then in the first eliminator against Quetta Gladiators, he had a spell of 3-12, which dented the Rilee Rossouw side’s hopes of chasing the target.
Meanwhile, in the second eliminator against Peshawar Zalmi, he, once again, played a winning knock, scoring 59* (40) when all hopes were lost.
However, the best was yet to come as Imad bagged a five-wicket haul in the final, becoming the first player to do so in the history of the PSL decider, playing the pivotal role in his side’s tcaptaincyWith the remarkable campaign.
Now Imad has come out of retirement to aid Pakistan in the T20 World Cup . No doubt the Green Shirts need their best players to win the elusive title.
Shadab’s captaincy
With his outstanding leadership skills in the previous editions of PSL, Shadab Khan became a strong contender for the captaincy of the Pakistan cricket team and rightly so. The Mianwali-born also got the chance to prove his abilities in a three-match T20I series against Afghanistan in the United Arab Emirates back in March 2023. While that team consisted of many debutants, the Shadab-led unit lost the series 2-1 and his own performances in those matches weren’t noteworthy.
Shadab’s captaincy chapter seemed to be over as this was the first time Pakistan had lost a series against Afghanistan and his performance was not enough; however, the 25-year-old surely turned the tide in the PSL 9 with not just his captaincy skills, but also with brilliant all-round performances.
Shadab Khan was named the PSL 9 Player of the Tournament as he scored 305 runs at a massive 142.5 strike rate and was Islamabad’s Man of the Hour when they were in trouble at multiple times. The leg-spinner also took 14 wickets at a 26.8 bowling average and proved why he is considered the best all-rounder of Pakistan.
With the 2024 T20 World Cup just two months away, Shadab’s presence would be key to Pakistan as Shaheen Shah Afridi would be in a dire need of constant ideas and guidance to become the first Pakistani captain to lift an ICC trophy since Sarfaraz Ahmed in 2017.
Shaheen’s failure :
After becoming just the first captain to win back-to-back PSL titles in 2022 and 2023, Shaheen Afridi looked like the man to guide Lahore Qalandars to their third title in three years and make them the most successful team in PSL history but the lanky pacer failed to deliver when it mattered the most in season nine.
A miserable campaign in the PSL 9 saw Lahore Qalandars winning only one out of 10 matches they played, which came against the eventual champions Islamabad in a group match. They lost eight matches and one ended without a result due to rain.
Struggling to take wickets, constant changes in the batting order and the unavailability of their key weapon Rashid Khan, were some of the factors that affected Lahore’s performance this season but the faults in Shaheen’s captaincy as well as his individual performances cannot be ignored.
Even though he took 14 wickets in 9 matches at an economy of 8.61, Shaheen did underperform in the PSL 9. The left-armer’s main weapon has always been his ability to bag wickets with the new ball, something that was not seen throughout the tournament. Not just that, his bowling in the death over has now become a topic of discussion for the fans. In the match against Quetta Gladiators, Shaheen needed to defend 14 runs in the last over but he failed, conceding a six to Wasim Jr on the last ball of the innings.
Apart from his bowling, one noticeable thing was the way Shaheen kept on promoting himself in the batting order above well-established batters/hitters like David Wiese, Sikandar Raza and others. Even though he scored a half-century against Quetta, coming to bat above proven batters — something that worked out in the PSL 8 final against Multan Sultans — didn’t do any good to Lahore as they had just the second worst campaign in the history after Karachi Kings in 2021, where the Kings lost a record nine matches.
Sarfraz Ahmed – The end of story
Sarfaraz Ahmed has resigned as captain of the Quetta Gladiators ahead of the ninth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL 9).He withdrew from the position at the suggestion of coach Shane Watson, sources said, adding that he will participate in the PSL 9 as player.
Sources further said Rilee Rossouw had been made captain of the team while left-hand batter Saudi Shakeel will be his deputy in the tournament.
It is recalled that Gladiators had won the PSL trophy in 2019 under Sarfaraz Ahmed’s captaincy while they had played finals in 2016 and 2017.
But now it seems the game is over . It seems PSL 9 is the end of Sarfraz Carrier .This is writing on the wall .
Babar and Rizwan’ s brilliance :
Following Pakistan’s defeat in the last T20 World Cup held in Australia in 2022, discussions arose regarding the need for more aggressive openers to maximise the power play overs. Statistically, Rizwan and Babar Azam’s strike rates in the power play have been under scrutiny.
The recently concluded PSL 9 edition of the Pakistan Super League may have thrown up some concerns about the automatic Pakistan selections for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Thankfully, it has also left selectors spoilt for choice in some departments…
At the top of the order and the scoring charts were two familiar names – Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.
Azam topped the charts at PSL 9 with 569 runs, including an unbeaten century and five fifties amid the omnipresent concerns over his strike rate.
Rizwan finished third with 407 runs, hitting four fifties and registering an impressive strike rate of 122.
Emergence of stars :
Saim Ayub , Usama Mir , Abrar Ahmed –
The left-hander Saim Ayub was declared “tournament all-rounder” after scoring 345 runs at a scintillating strike rate of 158 and picking up 8 wickets with his off-spin, which sometimes included opening the bowling.
Ayub’s timing, no-look flicks, energy in the field and aggression up the top order could play a key role in improving Pakistan’s performance at the T20 World Cup in June.
Usama Mir emerged as the leading wicket-taker of the tournament, becoming the first spinner to take 20-plus wickets in a single edition of the PSL. Additionally, Abrar Ahmed, a much-anticipated mystery spinner, made a significant impact with 15 wickets, displaying brilliance across all phases of the gam
