It has just been a week (from Thursday to Thursday) since the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) kicked off at the National Stadium Karachi.
Already, the action-packed T20 tournament has put forward some breathtaking performances, including Fakhar Zaman’s ton and some disappointing shows like the lack of Babar Azam’s cover drives.
We look back at the first week of the tournament to see how the tournament has fared so far.
Unstoppable Rizwan keeps Sultans on top
Multan Sultans and Mohammad Rizwan have begun their PSL 2022 campaign exactly from where they left it in 2021.
Sultans, the reigning champions, have been unstoppable so far under the leadership of the wicketkeeper-batter.
In the four games that they have played so far in the ongoing edition of the league, they have dominated in all aspects of the game, winning all four of them.
In the first few contests of the tournament, it seemed like it was obvious that the team batting second will win the contest; therefore, the toss had become the element to determine the result of the encounter.
However, once again, Rizwan proved what a fighting player and an intelligent captain he is when he led the side to defend the total for the first time in this year’s PSL.
Sultans faced Quetta Gladiators on January 31st, when Sarfraz Ahmed won the toss and invited Rizwan & Co to bat first.
When the commentator asked Pakistan’s current wicketkeeper-batter about how he feels regarding batting first as the track record has proved that teams batting second were at advantage, his reply actually revealed why he is such a gritty character.
“Teams like to bowl first here, but I think champion teams are not affected by the toss. Playing good cricket is what gets you results,” he said.
Multan Sultans overall have been in prime form with Shan Masood being the second-highest run-getter with 240 runs, while Rizwan himself is at fourth place with 133 runs.
On the other hand, their three bowlers are sitting at the top of the highest wickets table with, surprisingly, Khushdil Shah leading the way.
The part-time left-arm spinner is the highest wicket-taker with nine, while Imran Tahir and David Willey have seven wickets each against their names.
So far, Sultans have looked at ease in the tournament and are the favourites to go all the way.
Karachi’s horror show
The PSL 2020 champions Karachi Kings have looked toothless, to say the least. The Kings have been horrendous so far in the tournament, posing no threat to their opponents in their first three games of the campaign.
Karachi Kings’ new captain and the star batter, Babar Azam has failed to fire at the top of the batting line which has caused dearly to the franchise.
The ODI Cricketer of the Year has scored merely 96 runs in the first three games at a low strike rate of 105.49.
With Babar having a flop show, he is still the second-highest run-getter for the Men-in-Blue, just behind Sharjeel Khan’s 113 runs, which says a lot about their loose grip on the PSL title.
Meanwhile, in bowling, Afghanistan’s spinner Mohammad Nabi has been the pick of the bowlers with only three wickets in as many matches. Apart from Nabi, Umaid Asif has taken two wickets, while Imad Wasim, Mohammad Imran and Mohammad Ilyas have been the only wicket-takers with one wicket apiece.
Kings have been missing their ace pacer Mohammad Amir, who is yet to play a game this season, while they will be looking towards England’s Chris Jordan who was to join their squad after his national duty in the West Indies.
Moreover, the intelligence, which the world saw in Babar’s captaincy while performing the role for the national side, has been completely missing while leading his franchise. He looks off-colour both as a batter and as the captain.
It is too early to predict anything about the outcome of the event, but the way Kings are playing, they don’t look like lasting too long in the league.
Sarfaraz’s captaincy, performance under spotlight
Quetta Gladiators have won one of their three games. The decorated captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has been extremely animated so far in the tournament while leading former champions.
Gladiators saw a dip in their form in the last two editions and the things do not look any brighter for the franchise this year as well.
The reason largely can be Sarfaraz Ahmed’s captaincy. Though he has always been immensely expressive and aggressive in the field, when the team is doing well, these things are often swept under the carpet.
However, when the team is struggling, the least its players want is the support of their captain. A down and out unit do not want to see their leader holding his head and just having frustration on his face.
Moreover, the way Sarfaraz has been using his key bowlers is also questionable with saving red hot Naseem Shah and Mohammad Hasnain out of the attack for the death overs only.
In three matches so far, three top-performing bowlers of Gladiators, Naseem, Hasnain and Mohammad Nawaz, have not completed their quota of four overs.
On the other hand, the 34-year-old’s poor form with the bat continues this season as well.
He has scored 37 runs in two innings, having played an inning of 32 runs in one of them.
Only the openers, Ahsan Ali and the youngster Will Smeed, are trying to keep Gladiators’ alive in the arena with attacking cricket at the top of the order.
Ali and Smeed have made 154 and 130 runs, respectively, while the third-highest scorer so far for the team has been their captain.
Shaheen’s leading the way for Qalandars
Lahore Qalandars yet again changed their captain ahead of the PSL 2022 with the hope that the new leader will change their fate.
Qalandars appointed the ICC Cricket of the Year Shaheen Shah Afridi to wear the captaincy band and expected him to inspire the whole unit to replicate his performance.
So far, it looks like the formula is working for the franchise, winning two of their three contests and losing only against the unstoppable Sultans.
The 21-year-old is leading the way being the highest wicket-taker for his team with six scalps.
On the other hand, he is well supported by the left-handed opening batter Fakhar Zaman, who has been the leading run-scorer of the tournament so far and has already scored a century and two half-centuries.
The left-arm fast bowler has also impressed the critiques with his shuffling of bowlers.
The young captain has successfully utilised the likes of Haris Rauf, Rashid Khan and Zaman Khan, who have taken three, four and three wickets, respectively.
Qalandars fans will be doing dhamal as this time it looks like they have a chance to finally get their hands on the PSL trophy.
Follow BOL News for Latest PSL 2022 Updates – Click Here
