1st of all greetings to all our readers' franchise cricket is going around in full swing and there are a couple of leagues are going around the world. Big Bash finished recently where Perth Scorchers clinched the title against Sydney Sixers and after that Bangladesh Premier League has started and then PSL is going in full swing.
We will talk about the Pakistan Super League in this post. Cricket pundits are rating HBL PSL really high and this is the 2nd best league after IPL. Yes there are still global stars are missing but this is the most competitive league due to its bowling standard. There is ICC cricketer of the year, ICC ODI player of the year, and ICC T 20 player of the year playing and leading their side. It means Pakistan is building its own brand. We have seen 5 different Champions in the last 6 seasons and that should sum up the competition of the league. There is not the domination of one or two sides yes some franchises are playing great cricket from the start but other teams are also not far away from them.
I think the success of any league depends on the local players and youngsters because they know the conditions better and can polish their skills and can execute their plans to get better. We have seen this thing in IPL over the years that their young blood contributes so much to the success and in PSL such thing is going on.
So let's review the 1st week of HBL PSL 2022.
You can read also a Preview of the HBL PSL 2022
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| Points Table of PSL 2022 |
Sultans started in style
Multan Sultans is the defending champion and they have started their campaign on some style in this season also. Reliable Rizwan is leading the team from the front and they are playing equally good cricket in all 3 departments of the game.1st 2 games they won by the chase and then last 2 games they defended the total in a nail-biting finish. Last year it was all about Sohaib, Imran Khan Sr, and Dhahani. But this they didn't look good but other players Khushdil, Tim David and Willy joined the party and did the job for them. That's what we call teamwork. I think they still need to think about their bowling because this is not the bowling lineup you can depend on heavily but they are well ahead so far.
Qalandars are climbing up
Lahore Qalandars is the most exciting side to watch because sometimes they play really well and you can say that they are hot favorites but sometimes they play so bad and can get eliminated out of nowhere. We all know that they are having a splendid bowling line up but in the 1st match, they couldn't defend 206 runs against Multan. But after that, they came back really well and have won 2 out of 3. Fakhar Zaman is in the form of his life and the top scorer of PSL so far and his helping side so far. After 6 years they found the right opening combination in the shape of Fakhar and Abdullah Shafique. But I think they need their middle order to fire there are still early days and their top order doing well. But there will be some time when their middle order will be tested but so far they are looking good and going up in the points table.
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| Shaheen Afridi |
Invincible Islamabad
Islamabad United has just played 2 games and they won one and lost one but they are looking for a really good side as always. Their no. 11 is also having a 1st class hundred and that's should sum up the story. They need a left-hander in the lineup and that place will be filled with Munro's availability. After that they are having a problem in death overs for a couple of years yes there are trying to cover it that's why they got Merchant De Lange in this season but still couldn't solve out as they leaked 107 runs in the last 6 overs in the last match against Sultans. But the good thing was that they didn't give up and the lone warrior Shadab Khan fought till the end but couldn't get his team over the line. They are looking for a good side but it is just a matter of time.
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| Shadab Khan |
Uncertain Peshawar Zalmi
Peshawar Zalmi has always been a good side in the PSL and plays good cricket but in this tournament so far they are not looking near to the best. They are struggling in almost every department of the game. Luckily they have won the 1st match against Quetta after that really poor fielding but after that lost 2 successive games. They are looking short of plans and looking short of intent also. Their only spinner Usman Qadir is struggling big time and he is not picking wickets in middle overs which causes the problems towards the end. Their fast bowling not looking really threatening also but there is still time and they can sort out things surely.
Unlucky Quetta
Quetta could have won 3 out of 3 but cricket is the game of really fine margins. In 1st match, they put a really competitive total on the board but Malik and Talat stole the game from them. Then Naseem Shah won the game against Karachi single-handedly with his fifer. They ran out of luck against Multan it was a nail-biter and they lost the match when it was almost in the pocket. Quetta required 26 in the last 3 and then 8 in the final over but David Willy snatched the victory out of their mouth. Their key players are yet to arrive let's see how they go.
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| Naseem Shah |
Kings haven't arrived yet
Karachi Kings is one of the most famous franchises and always looks like a good team but under the captaincy of Babar Azam, they have not arrived yet in the tournament. Karachi looked off-color in all 3 matches there was no intensity no planning and hence no results also for them. They are having a lot of problems their batting looks awful except Sharjeel no one looked promising and even best in the business Babar struggled so far. He is the slowest starter in PSL top order of every team is almost scoring runs at a brisk rate but Karachi is struggling to do that. Their overseas picking is still not fired up Nabi is out to form and Joe Clarke and Gregory are not in good nick. In bowling, they are missing Amir and Jordan badly but I think the struggle will go on because Jordan is struggling in death overs since World Cup, and Amir is also not at his best.
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| Babar Azam |
So there is a lot of work to do for them and they need to change things around quickly because they are running out of time.
So that's it from our side cricket is coming our way West Indies tour of India will kick off from 6th February and Sri Lanka tour of Australia will start from 11th February so keep watching cricket and keep reading us.