Pakistan Super League: Preparations complete for final stage postponed due to Corona
The last phase of Pakistan Super League Five, which was postponed due to the Corona epidemic, is starting from November 14 at the National Stadium in Karachi.
This stage includes four matches, including the final. In the first of the two matches to be played on November 14, Multan Sultans will face Karachi Kings while Peshawar Zalmi's team will face Lahore Qalandars in the second match.
The winner of the first match will advance to the final on November 17, while the losing team will face the winner of the second match on November 15, and the winner will play in the final.
Due to the Covid 19 situation, spectators will be barred from entering the stadium during these four matches.
Why was PSL postponed ?
Pakistan Super League Five was held in February-March this year. Its matches were played in Karachi, Multan, Rawalpindi and Lahore in which the spectators showed extraordinary enthusiasm but due to Covid 19, the spectators were not allowed to enter the stadium in its last five matches.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the postponement of the PSL on March 17 after a suspected case of corona virus came to light and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed the presence of corona virus symptoms in a foreign player.
The Pakistan Cricket Board had decided in September this year that the remaining four matches of the Pakistan Super League would be played in Lahore in November, but later announced that the matches would be played in Karachi.
The position of the teams
Multan Sultans tops the points table in Pakistan Super League Five. He has won six out of ten matches and has 14 points.
Karachi Kings are second with 11 points. The Lahore Qalandars team has made it to the playoffs for the first time and has also won five out of 10 matches. Peshawar Zalmi is fourth in the points table with nine points.
It is noteworthy that two-time winners Islamabad United and last year's champions Quetta Gladiators are out of the playoff race this time.
The brilliance of foreign cricketers
For the remaining four matches of the Pakistan Super League Five, all the four teams have the services of foreign cricketers, although due to Code 19, concerns were being expressed about the arrival of foreign players in Pakistan.
Prominent among the foreign cricketers coming to Pakistan is South Africa's Faf Dupleix, who will be representing Peshawar Zalmi for the first time in the PSL.
Duplessis has been named in the squad to replace West Indies' Caron Pollard, who is touring New Zealand with the West Indies.
Other South African cricketers include Imran Tahir, Riley Rousseau (Multan Sultans), Dean Villas, David Visa (Lahore Qalandars), Cameron Delport (Karachi Kings), Hardes Wiljoin (Peshawar Zalmi) and Van Parnell (Karachi Kings).
Six England cricketers will be in the playoffs, including Alex Hales (Karachi Kings), Samat Patil (Lahore Qalandars), Adam Lith, Ravi Bopara, Joe Danley (Multan Sultans) and Saqib Mahmood (Peshawar Zalmi).
Four West Indies players had confirmed their participation, including Chadwick Walton, Sherfan Rutherford (Karachi Kings), Darren Sammy, Carlos Braithwaite (Peshawar Zalmi) but Darren Sammy is unable to come to Pakistan due to visa issues, so Peshawar Zalmi Has replaced him with Sohaib Maqsood.
Bangladesh's Tamim Iqbal has been included in the Lahore Qalandars squad in place of Australian batsman Chris Lane.
Bangladeshi all-rounder Mahmudullah was included by the Multan Sultans as a replacement for England's Moin Ali, but he contracted the corona virus.
Another blow to Multan Sultans has come in the form of James Vance of England whose Corona Test came positive before leaving for Pakistan due to which he has been dropped from PSL.
The Multan Sultans have added England's Judenley and Zimbabwe's Brendon Taylor as substitutes for Mahmudullah and James Owens.
The most talked about foreign player will be Australian batsman Ben Dunk, who gained huge popularity among the fans due to his aggressive batting and chewing gum habit in PSL league matches.
Which team is the strongest?
The batting line-up of Multan Sultans looks balanced in the presence of captain Shaun Masood, Riley Russo, Ali Shafiq, Shahid Afridi, Zeeshan Ashraf and Khushdal Shah while in bowling, Sohail Tanveer, Imran Tahir, Usman Qadir and Junaid Khan form the T20. There are specialist bowlers.
The Karachi Kings have reliable batsmen like Alex Hales, Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan and Emad Wasim, while the experience of Emad Wasim and Mohammad Amir in the bowling line-up has come in handy, but they will definitely miss Chris Jordan.
The Lahore Qalandars are in the playoffs for the first time after a series of setbacks and for the first title, they are looking to Ben Dunk, Fakhrazman, Samat Patil and Mohammad Hafeez who have the potential to play big innings.
In bowling, he has match-winner Shaheen Shah Afridi, whose magic is currently in full swing. He is accompanied by Haris Rauf, Dilbar Hussain, David Visa and Samat Patil. Although Harris Rauf has taken just three wickets in five matches, he is a bowler who can change the situation at any time.
Peshawar Zalmi has the services of Kamran Akmal, the most successful batsman of PSL, besides Shoaib Malik and Haider Ali. Wahab Riaz, Hassan Ali, Rahat Ali and Yasir Shah are in charge of the bowling department but Hassan Ali, who has taken eight wickets in the last nine matches, is not fully fit and the team management is keeping an eye on his fitness.
Remarkable performance
So far, Babar Azam of Karachi Kings is leading in Pakistan Super League Five with 345 runs with the help of three half centuries.
Chris Lane of Lahore Qalandars is the highest individual innings batsman with 113 not out but Lahore Qalandars will not get his services in the playoffs.
Ben Dunk of Lahore Qalandars has hit the most number of 23 sixes in this PSL so far, out of which 12 sixes he hit in the innings of 99 runs against Karachi Kings.
Fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain tops the PSL with 15 wickets, but after his team was knocked out of the Quetta Gladiators, Lahore Qalandars' Shaheen Shah Afridi has a chance to overtake him. Have taken wickets.
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