PakPassion poster Titan24 previews the strength and weaknesses of all squads in the Pakistan Super Leagues 7th Edition.

Peshawar Zalmi

One of the most successful franchises in PSL’s history has been Peshawar Zalmi. From marketing, brand imaging to producing quality emerging players Zalmi have experienced it all in the 6 editions of PSL.

However, with the retirement of Darren Sammy as the player and captain there has undoubtedly been a void which despite decent effort from Wahab who is the current captain is yet to be fully filled. Zalmi did finish as runners up in the 2021 PSL edition which does show how strong their team base and culture in the group is.

One of the critical points regarding player retentions in Zalmi’s PSL history came in 2020 when Hassan Ali who has been the best emerging player coming out of Peshawar Zalmi left the franchise. Zalmi gave him the opportunity in the very first edition of PSL and he was a huge part of the franchise since however, him going into the platinum category in the draft in 2020 pushed Peshawar Zalmi to release him which was a move that many of the Zalmi fans still remember.

Hassan, who is now part of Islamabad United, was not only their best pacer after Wahab Riaz but, also a potential young leader who showed a lot of leadership capabilities while leading the struggling Central Punjab team in the 2020 season to their title defense in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy when they shared the trophy with KPK.

Despite all that, Zalmi has a team atmosphere which has seen many youngsters thrive alongside the experience of Mohammad Akram as team director as well as two World T20 trophies winning captain as their Head Coach Darren Sammy.

Young dynamic batsman in the form of Haider Ali and experience of Shoaib Malik provide good local batting talent to Zalmi. Add to that the batting firepower which Liam Livingstone can provide when he joins alongside Tom-Kohler Cadmore and partners with the irreplaceable Sherfane Rutherford.

The bowling attack will be led by their captain Wahab Riaz who is supported by Saqib Mahmood who might have to miss initial few games. In any case, Zalmi have added a lot of young local pacers in their squad to back up their main pacers with the likes of Sohail Khan coming in to their squad as well. Spin bowling will have to be led by Usman Qadir who only has two other young spinners in Mark Parkinson and Aarish Khan to support him if and when required who were both added during the replacement and supplementary drafts.

Whilst Zalmi has quality in both batting and bowling department, one area leaves a lot to be desired and that is having quality all-rounders. The only all-rounders Zalmi have are batting types in Malik and Livingstone. So, considering the lack of batting depth Wahab might well be expected to contribute something with the bat as well.

Key players: Wahab Riaz, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, Liam Livingstone, Sherfane Rutherford

Strength: Flexibility and power in batting

Weakness: Weak batting depth and lack of all-round options

Full Squad:

Wahab Riaz, Liam Livingstone, Shoaib Malik, Sherfane Rutherford, Haider Ali, Saqib Mahmood, Hussain Talat, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Qadir, Salman Irshad, Arshad Iqbal, Sameen Gul, Kamran Akmal, Sirajuddin, Mohammad Amir Khan, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Haris

Supplementary round: Mohammad Umer, Sohail Khan

Partial replacements: Matt Parkinson, Pat Brown

Karachi Kings

The champions of PSL in 2020, Karachi Kings had a rather off season overall in 2021 where their overall combination and use of emerging players left a lot to be desired.

In 2022, they have replaced Herschelle Gibbs who was their coach for one season with a very highly rated English coach in Peter Moores. We are now, to the relief of many, going to see Pakistan’s national captain, captaining a side in PSL with the appointment of Babar Azam. The combination of Peter Moores and Babar Azam could well become one of the most important significant events in the history of Karachi Kings.

When we talk about the team there seems to be a couple of things one can notices straight away. One is the lack of experienced middle-order batsmen with a dependence on all-rounders to do the job.

With a rather top-heavy but excellent batting order consisting of Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan and Joe Clarke, we see quite a few all-rounders and there is a distinct lack of experienced middle order batsmen with only options being the emerging player Mohammad Talha or initially ignored best domestic player of the 2021 season Sahibzada Farhan who showed his capability in the middle-order this domestic season.

From the looks of it, Karachi’s combination would be highly dependent upon all-rounders like Mohammad Nabi, Lewis Gregory, Imad Wasim or Aamer Yamin/ Tom Lammonby (the recently recruited batting all-rounder from England) for the middle order.

Second thing that one notices is the lack of pace in the pace bowling power available to the Kings. We don’t see any speed demon in the squad who can touch mid 140kph, the current leader in the form of Mohammad Amir currently operates in mid-130 kph range, which is the same case with Umaid Asif.

The only bright spark in this sense is the presence of the younger bowlers like Mohammad Imran and Mohammad Ilyas who can touch high 130Kphs and just about reach 140 Kph. Chris Jordan might have to miss initial few matches but, can add some pace and experience when he joins the unit. Romario Shepherd could well have provided some extra zip but, but unfortunately, he will not be available for Kings due to international commitments.

Unless Babar Azam and Peter Moores can form a combination and create a positive team atmosphere from the very start and utilize to the fullest the skills of local as well as emerging players well, this could well be another tough season for the Karachi Kings.

Key players: Babar Azam, Joe Clarke, Sharjeel Khan, Lewis Gregory, Mohammad Nabi, Imad Wasim, Chris Jordan, Mohammad Amir.

Strength: Variety of all rounders

Weakness: Lack of experience in the middle and high reliance on all-rounders along with lack of pace in the setup to provide something extra in the middle overs

Full Squad:

Babar Azam, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Amir, Joe Clarke, Sharjeel Khan, Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Ilyas, Chris Jordan, Lewis Gregory, Umaid Asif, Tom Abell (injured, replaced by Ian Cockbain), Rohail Nazir, Muhammad Imran, Faisal Akram, Qasim Akram, Talha Ahsan, Romario Shepherd (unvailable, replaced by Tom Lammonby)

Supplementary round: Sahibzada Farhan, Jordan Thompson

Partial replacement: Mohammad Taha Khan

Lahore Qalandars

Is this the year for the Qalandars? That question would be on the mind of every Lahore Qalandar fan who are yet to see their franchise lift the PSL trophy. The closest they ever came was in 2020 when they played the final with their arch rivals Karachi Kings but, it wasn’t their day and they lost by 5 wickets.

This year while the Head Coach role is still (curiously) occupied by Aaqib Javed but, the captaincy has gone to the premier Lahore Qalandar as well as Pakistan pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Shaheen is riding high on confidence with a phenomenal year across the formats behind his back but, the question would be that will he be able to translate the same into his leadership as well.

While he has never had captaincy experience before, he is often seen on field talking to and guiding young pacers when in Pakistan colors or in domestic cricket – a skill which could come handy in his new role.

Qalandars squad this time around on paper looks to be possibly their best in terms of combinations that it allows. With young batting sensation in Abdullah Shafique to top run scorer in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (2020) competition in Kamran Ghulam who recently scored a T20 hundred as well for KPK, they have got some solid local batting options.

Mix it with the fire power they have in Fakhar Zaman, Phil Salt, Harry Brook, David Wiese they potentially have a pretty solid batting pedigree for the 2022 edition of the tournament.

Their bowling needs no fancy words to describe it as its arguably the best in the competition with the Pakistani spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi, their own product Haris Rauf who is sending the waves around the T20 circuit and ICCs best T20 cricketer of the decade Rashid Khan leading the spin attack.

Emerging pacer Zaman Khan who got the limelight through Kashmir Premier League will be one of their emerging pace bowling options followed by their sliver category pick in the highly talented left-arm seamer Akif Javed - both of them can be solid support options for the Qalandars bowling line-up.

This time around they possibly have all basis covered but, Lahore will also need some luck and some Qalandari spirit which is a key ingredient when it comes to winning trophies, especially in the T20 format.

Key players: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Rashid Khan, Phil Salt, Fakhar Zaman, David Weise

Strengths: Bowling attack and overall combination depth

Weakness: No experienced local or overseas specialist spinner as a back up to Rashid Khan


Full Squad:

Shaheen Shah Afridi, Rashid Khan, David Wiese, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohail Akhtar, Zeeshan Ashraf, Ahmed Daniyal, Fakhar Zaman, Phil Salt, Harry Brook, Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam, Dean Foxcroft, Zaman Khan, Maaz Khan, Samit Patel, Syed Faridoun

Supplementary round: Mohammad Imran Randhawa, Akif Javed

Partial replacement: Ben Dunk, Matthew Potts

Islamabad United

Two times PSL champions and table toppers of the 2021 season, Islamabad United will definitely be a team to watch out for this season as well. With a traditionally long batting line-up, aggressive approach at the top and a variety of all-rounders they are once again looking very strong on paper.

After the departure of Mohammad Sami, Islamabad had lacked an experienced pacer to lead their attack and they tried few things to fill in the gap left by Sami and injury of Rumman Raees but the results were not up to their expectations. Last season saw United picking Hassan Ali in the platinum category which covered the missing aspect for them, and fans could see the difference he made straight away with the new ball as well as crucial overs in the match.

With the top order of Alex Hales, Paul Stirling, Collin Munro and having a finisher like Asif Ali in the lower middle order makes Islamabad a formidable batting unit while players like Shadab Khan, Danish Aziz, Azam Khan can provide some solid middle order options as well giving a lot of depth to their batting order. The only blemish one can think of is lack of a consolidator in the potential lineup but then the long batting order covers for it more often than not.

Johan Botha who was the Head Coach of Islamabad United in 2021 was not able to join the team in 2022 and the experienced Azhar Mahmood who has been the bowling coach for Pakistan, Multan Sultans, bowling consultant for England and also had a stint with the Oval Invincibles in the Hundred will be replacing him. A Shadab-Azhar partnership could well be the winning formula Islamabad need to pick-up their 3rd title.

Key players: Shadab Khan, Hassan Ali, Alex Hales, Asif Ali, Colin Munro, Paul Stirling, Mohammad Wasim Jr

Strengths: Dynamic top order and long batting depth

Weakness: Not many around to anchor the innings if required


Full Squad:

Asif Ali, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Alex Hales, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Azam Khan, Paul Stirling, Colin Munro, Marchant de Lange, Muhammad Akhlaq, Reece Topley, Danish Aziz, Zafar Gohar, Mubasir Khan, M. Zeeshan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ather Mehmood

Supplementary draft: Musa Khan, Zahir Khan

Partial replacement: Mohammad Huraira

Quetta Gladiators

Since winning the tournament in 2019 Quetta Gladiators have had a pretty tough time in PSL. Questionable emerging picks for T20 format, bad combinations, player management and availability, as well as backups - all left a lot to be desired.

Lead by former Pakistan national team captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and coached by another former Pakistan captain and keeper Moin Khan Quetta have had its fair share of ups and downs during the last 6 editions.

On paper they have put up a decent squad. They will also have the power of Lala – Shahid Afridi – at their disposal as well. However, once again player availability in few matches might come back to disturb the flow a bit.

At the same time, it looks like the backups this time around are of better quality keeping in mind the combination they had last year. Other than that, Sarfaraz’s captaincy which has not been up to the usual standards set by himself in the last couple of years will again be tested and a lot will depend upon that.

Quetta has almost everything in the squad one can think of from batsmen, power, all-rounders, spinners of every type to both left and right arm pace but, a slight blemish might be lack of experience/leadership in bowling to back young express pacers in Mohammad Hasnain and Naseem Shah.

Sohail Tanvir is in his twilight years and his performances in the last year or so seem to show that. On the other hand James Faulkner who was sensational for Lahore Qalandars on slow surfaces of UAE might not find it as easy on the Pakistani surfaces and has never showed much spark with regards to being a leader of the bowling group.

Key Players: Sarfaraz Ahmed, Iftikhar Ahmed, Jason Roy, James Vince, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah

Strengths: All basis and varieties covered

Weakness: Not much experience/leadership in the bowling group.

Full Squad:

James Vince, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Jason Roy, James Faulkner, Umar Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Ben Duckett, Khurram Shehzad, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Muhammad Ashar Qureshi, Noor Ahmad, Ahsan Ali, Luke Wood

Supplementary round: Ghulam Mudassar, Dan Lawrence

Partial replacements: Will Smeed, Ali Imran, Shimron Hetmyer

Multan Sultans

The defending champions Multan Sultans are once again coached by the highly rated and respected Andy Flower who was with the side in 2021 and also recently coached St Lucia Kings to the finals of CPL 2021.

They are captained by the indomitable Mohammad Rizwan who has recently been named the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year. His credentials as captain are impeccable with wins in domestic competitions as well as in PSL 6 and will be expected.

The wicket-keeper batter has won every single T20 competition he has captained in last couple of years and given his red-hot form will surely be the mainstay of Multan’s batting. They also have highly rated spin bowling coach in Pakistan’s former leggy Mushtaq Ahmed and assistant coach in Abdul Rehman who coached KPK this year to 2 domestic titles so far.

Whilst Sultan’s were dealt a blow with the news that the fast-bowling coach Azhar Mahmood had moved onto Islamabad United to take on the Head Coach Role, Multan have been lucky to acquire the services of the vastly experienced Ottis Gibson.

In its initial few years what Multan Sultans seemed to be lacking was somewhat of an identity and which is crucial for building a fan-base and can bring success on the field too.

In that regard, Multan are lucky in having a leader in Mohammad Rizwan but equally fortunate to have found the charismatic Shahnawaz Dahani who could well define brand Multan Sultans for years to come.

Despite not being filled up with a lot of all-rounders, Multan Sultans have some solid specialist batsmen as well as bowlers making them a quality combination. Their latest recruitment David Willey can be a fine addition with the ability to possibly cover that No. 7 all-rounder position as well as providing them with a stable start with the new ball. Tim David is another solid recent recruitment who has already demonstrated his ability to hit the ball which he did with some effectiveness for Lahore Qalandars last year.

Key players: Mohammad Rizwan, Sohaib Maqsood, Riley Rossouw, David Willey, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tim David, Imran Tahir.

Strength: Solid leadership and backroom staff

Weakness: Only two full time spinners in the entire squad

Full Squad:

Mohammad Rizwan, Rilee Rossouw, Sohaib Maqsood, Imran Tahir, Shan Masood, Khushdil Shah, Shahnawaz Dhani, Tim David, Odean Smith, Rumman Raees, Asif Afridi, Anwar Ali, Rovman Powell, Imran Khan Sr., Abbas Afridi, Amir Azmat, Blessing Muzarabani, Ihsanullah

Supplementary round: David Willey, Rizwan Hussain

Partial replacements: Johnson Charles, Dominic Drakes