In a comprehensive preview of the PSL teams for the upcoming PSL 9 TheBaldEagle has provided detailed insights into each squad. As anticipation builds for the thrilling cricketing action, one burning question remains: Which team is poised to lift the coveted trophy? Let's delve into the analysis to uncover the potential champions of PSL 9.

 By TheBaldEagle  (20 January, 2024)

Pakistan Super League (PSL) edition 9 is starting from February 17th next month. With less than a month left in the beginning of the Pakistan cricket galore. Here is a detailed preview of the upcoming tournament alongwith some player suggestions that would be a treat to watch this edition.

With the team rosters finalized, let's talk about who has the best shot at taking the 9th edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Would it be the third consecutive title for the defending champions Lahore Qalandars or someone else can claim the glory this time around?


Islamabad United (Winning chances : Medium High)

Islamabad United (IU) has the most experienced squad. They have great names like Colin Munro, Alex Hales, Imad Wasim, Naseem Shah and Tom Curran in their roaster. Overall, they do have a very compact batting line up and also possess the highest number of proper all-rounders among all the PSL sides. The only concern for them is a bit inexperienced but talented pace bowling lineup comprising of Shahab Khan and Shah brothers. Their spin department is also quite decent owing to presence of seasoned spinners like Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan. The form of Azam Khan and Faheem Ashraf would be a great decisive factor for the success or failure for IU. The addition of young Shamyl Hussain is also a bonus for IU squad.


Strengths:

• Flexible squad with luxury of frequent reshuffling. As Shadab Khan can easily bat at no. 3,4,5 or even 6th spot. Likewise Salman Ali Agha and Faheem Ashraf can also play up and down the batting order. Thus allowing IU to make plausible changes in batting order as per situation.
• Possess the most explosive opening duo in form of Alex Hales and Colin Munro. Hales strike rate(SR) in T20 is 147.2 and Munro’s scoring ability is even better than Hales at 156.4 SR.

Weakness:

• Shadab Khan is out of form and a post injury Naseem Shah’s solid performance would be a big Contingency.

Peshawar Zalmi (Winning chances : Medium to High)

Peshawar Zalmi have improved greatly since last year. The addition of young sensations like Mohammad Zeeshan and Khurram Shahzad this season have been a great plus for them. Another boost for Peshawar Zalmi is its pinch-hitting star-studded batting lineup that includes the name of likes of Saim Ayub, Rovman Powell, Mohammad Haris, Tom Cadmore and Asif Ali. Also, they have gone extra mile this time around to address their previous bowling woes. And the bonus point for them is that all of their bowlers barring Naveen ul Haq have been in top notch form recently so this will benefit them greatly in the upcoming PSL season. Also, they are the top contenders for the PSL glory this year owing to their balanced squad. For me they will be one of the finalists this season.

Strength:

Top-class pinch hitting ability and versatile batting line up: Asif Ali (SR 147.0), Mohammad Haris (SR 146.5), Saim Ayub (SR143.9), Tom Kohler-Cadmore (SR 142.2) and Rovman Powell (SR 139.3) all being in the same side will be a treat to watch. Certainly, you can expect a lot of run fests from PZ this season.

Weakness:

• Babar Azam’s lackluster record as a captain: Just 6 wins and 6 losses in 12 PSL matches
• Recent injury to Khurram Shahzad in Australia that may rule him out from upcoming PSL season

Lahore Qalandars (Winning chances : low Medium to High)

From chokers to Heroes. The aforementioned sentence can better describe the transformation that Lahore Qalandars have gone through in the last couple of years. The two-time PSL champions also have a great squad this year too. But unlike last year, this year their star players are badly out of form. For instance, Haris Rauf has made a historic record for most runs conceded in a single World Cup, whereas Shaheen Shah Afridi is also going through a bad patch that has not even ended in Australia. So the big question for the Qalandars is: will their star pacers be in top notch form in the upcoming PSL or will they suffer the same thrashing that they have become used to in last few months? Apart from that, the batting department of LQ does look solid after the addition of exceptional T20 batters like Rassie van der Dussen, Sahibzada Farhan and Shai Hope. Their spin department also possess great flair owing to presence of experienced duo of Rashid Khan and Sikandar Raza. A headache for LQ will be to afford a place to Sahibzada Farhan in the opening pair but this in turn would call for a sacrifice from either Abdullah Shafique or Fakhar Zaman. Most probably Fakhar will bat at 3rd spot but that could be an omen for his good form as he does not have a good record of batting at this position.

Strengths:

Bowling is the main strength of LQ. And Zaman Khan would be their go to bowler this year owing to his spectacular performances in BBL.13 and recently for the team Pakistan

Weakness:

Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi recent lackluster performances and poor form will be a main headache for LQ this season.Especially a poor series against New Zealand for Shaheen Afridi in his maiden captaincy voyage may also shake his confidence as a captain in PSL too.

Another big blow for LQ would be the absence of their prime spinner Rashid Khan who will miss the action in PSL 9 due to his recent back surgery.


Karachi Kings (Winning chances : Very low to low)

There is no secret in it that the Karachi Kings have the most impotent and awful squad among all the teams in the upcoming PSL. And much worse is the fact that they let go their star players like Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir and Babar Azam in recent years. Also, another great folly on part of KK management was to give the charge of captaincy to Shan Masood instead of a serial winner captain like Kieron Pollard who has won multiple franchise league titles and has recently added CPL 2023 and T10 2023 titles to his name. But still, recent PSL draft has brought great names like Daniel Sams, Tabraiz Shamsi and Saad Baig into their squad. The bowling unit of KK is just pedestrian and average so they may face many issues here too. It may sound a bit harsh, but truth is that I don’t see this squad going any distance even a top four spot looks highly unlikely for them. But as they say, in cricket you never know what is going to happen next.

Strengths:

The presence of T20 specialists like Shoaib Malik, Kieron Pollard and Tabraiz Shamsi would be a great plus for the Kings.

Weakness:

After departure of Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir they do lack the presence of a ‘X-factor’ person in their bowling unit.

Quetta Gladiators (Winning chances : Medium High)

Quetta Gladiators as usual, are sticking with their maiden PSL trophy winner captain Sarfaraz Ahmed. No doubt, he is a great captain but in recent years his performance with the bat has always been questionable. The good news for the Gladiators has been the addition of Australian coaching staff to their side and that will bear great fruit with it as the Aussies always bring in the “winning mentality” with them also. Another plus for them has been the upgradation of their bowling unit. Now they have made seasoned campaigners like Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Wasim Jnr and Sohail Khan a part of their pace bowling unit and in spin department they can now avail the services of specialist spinners like Akeal Hosein and Abrar Ahmed besides Sri Lankan great all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga. Furthermore, Quetta has reinforced their batting strength too with the addition of T20 pinch hitting specialists like Sherfane Rutherford and Rilee Rossouw. So overall, they do have a very capable and talented squad this year.

Strengths:

Sarfaraz Ahmed’s deft captaincy and incorporation of “Aussie effect” to the squad owing to appointment of Shane Watson and Shaun Tait as head and bowling coach respectively.

Weaknesses:

Sarfaraz Ahmed’s poor patch of runs as a batter and departure of young seem sensation, Naseem Shah who was their highest wicket taker in the 2022 season will be a source of concern for the team purple.

Multan Sultans ( Winning chances : Medium to High)

Multan Sultans have a really great squad this season too. They certainly have many match winners in their squad and can also be reckoned as the favorites for this year HBL PSL trophy. The main strong stay of MS is their bowling unit. They possess the best bowling unit among all the PSL franchises. Youngsters like Ihsanullah, Abbas Afridi are their talented rookies but at the same time they have the services of experienced pacers like Reece Topley, Chris Jordan and David Willey at their disposal too. Their spin department is also fine owing to presence of Khusdil shah, Iftikhar Ahmed and Usama Mir. Their batting unit is not as strong as it was last year due to absence of names like Rilee Rossouw, David Miller and Tim David from their ranks but still they have big guns like Iftikhar Ahmed, Reeza Hendricks and Dawid Malan that can wreck great havoc to the opposition. The Sultans are also lucky enough to have a wicket keeper batsman like Mohammad Rizwan as their captain as he not only leads from the front but also manages the players really well and that has been the reason they have ended up as finalists consecutively for the last three years with claiming the title once in 2021.

Strengths:

• Compact bowling unit is their main strength. Abbas Afridi, Reece Topley, Chris Jordan and David Willey combined can dismantle any batting unit.
• Availability of an experienced proper wicket keeper captain like Mohammad Rizwan.

Weakness:

Ihsanullah may not play in the upcoming PSL season at all for MS as he is currently under PCB’s rehabilitation regiment and also a strong contingent option for Pakistan T20 WC 2024 squad.

Dark Horses  for each side:

• Peshawar Zalmi: Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Mohammad Zeeshan
• Quetta Gladiators : Saud Shakeel and Usman Qadir
• Islamabad United : Shahab Khan and Qasim Akram
• Lahore Qalandars : Sahibzada Farhan and Sikandar Raza
• Multan Sultans : Tayyab Tahir, David Willey and Faisal Akram
• Karachi Kings : Daniel Sams, Mir Hamza and Saad Baig

Conclusion:

PSL 9 will be really crucial for the selection of top notch talent for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024. It has been 14 years since Pakistan won its maiden T20 World Cup, so the performances in PSL 9 would be of great significance in finalizing an impactful squad that could seal the deal for Pakistan by ending the 14 years long T20 trophy drought in the Caribbean next year. Lahore Qalandars have the best squad on paper among all the PSL franchises but the issue with them is that their star pacers Shaheen and Haris are hugely out of form and because of this they are no more favorites for the title. Peshawar Zalmi have a fantastic squad this season and are more likely to end up as one of the finalists for PSL 9, they can even clinch it themselves only if Babar Azam does not not crumble under the pressure of captaincy. Multan Sultans are my pick for the winner slot in the HBL PSL 9 owing to their great captain and balanced squad. Things are also ambivalent for Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators but the only thing they lack is a Power-packed performances in the play-offs. If they can deliver there then certainly they can ink their own script for glory. And for Karachi Kings the things are looking bleak as they lack their usual charismatic roaster guys whom have departed in recent years so to book a place even in the top four would be a great achievement for them let alone lifting the trophy this season.