The T20 carnival of Pakistan cricket is set to return for its eighth successive edition as the two powerhouse sides are lining up to kick-start the anticipated cricketing action of PSL. The defending champions Lahore Qalandars will be summoned by the sixth-edition winners Multan Sultans on the opening day to seek revenge for their previous final defeat.
The tournament opener clash of the Pakistan Super League Season 8 will take place at Multan Cricket Stadium this Monday.
The PSL fans will be witnessing an action replay of the Season 7 finale as it also consummated with these two Punjab-based outfits surviving till the doomsday night. After playing a pivotal role in Comilla Victorians’ qualification into the BPL playoffs, Mohammad Rizwan has returned to lead the Janoobis to yet another successful campaign. Meanwhile, Lahore will be kick-starting its title-defense campaign with the ultimate aim to become the first team to successfully defend it.
Rilee Rossouw and Joshua Little are unavailable for the Sultans owing to their participation in the SA20 finals with the Pretoria Capitals side. Hence, the 27-year-old in-form batter Usman Khan is likely to feature in the top order along with Rizwan and Masood. While the middle order of the Janoobis will be stacked with the high-profile names of David Miller, Kieron Pollard and Tim David.
The skipper Shaheen Afridi featured in a practice game indicating his availability for the opening game. Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafique will be slated into the Lahore opening slot while Sam Billings and Kamran Ghulam will be bolstering the middle order. The absentees from the Qalandars roster include the name of star Afghan signing Rashid Khan who is unavailable for their first three fixtures.
What have they done so far?
Despite being regarded as the title favorites right from the inaugural edition, it took the Lahore-based franchise eight seasons to finally get their hands on the prestigious PSL trophy. The Qalandars’ prolonged wait for the glory finally ended with the star youngster Shaheen Shah Afridi stepping up and guiding them towards the champions podium in his captaincy debut season. The Lahore Greens previously delivered their best performance in the league stages and achieved a top-two finish for the first time in franchise history.
On the other hand, the Green and Blues who failed to make it through the league stage have now finished among the Top 2 in the following three consecutive seasons. The Janoobis have surged into the top and established themselves among elites ever since the star wicket-keeping batter Mohammad Rizwan has taken over the captaincy responsibilities. Multan topped the league stages of 2022 after fetching a record-breaking tally of 18 points but eventually lost the final battle to the Lahore counterparts.
Head to Head record
Multan has been indulged in a fierce rivalry with another Punjabi outfit ever since their induction into Pakistan’s premier domestic T20 competition. Multan is leading the head-to-head record of Punjab Derby after emerging victorious in 7 encounters at a winning rate of 53.84. Meanwhile, the Qalandars are also not much far behind in the head-to-head battle and currently stand on six wins over the neighborhood rivals.
The last PSL fixture before the commencement of the current edition was also played between these two combatants when the glory of the 2022 season was on the line. Lahore lost the qualifier battle but staged a quick comeback in the second qualifier and went on to hand a thumping 43-run triumph at the finals.
The veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez delivered a Man of the Match performance to lift the prestigious trophy in his last appearance for the Lahore Greens.
This is going to be the first Punjab Derby clash at Multan Cricket Stadium as the Sultans have never hosted the Qalandars side at their home ground.
Key Players
Mohammad Rizwan: The Peshawar-born star wicket-keeper will be up against the side whom he represented the initial two seasons. Rizwan was instrumental in the recent success of Multan Sultans and also claimed the Player of the Series honor scoring 546 runs in 12 innings.
Rizwan eying on a hat-trick of PSL finals with the Sultans
The 30-year-old has also regained his form right at the correct time after fetching 351 runs at an astonishing average of 50.14 in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League.
Shaheen Shah Afridi: The PSL-winning Qalandars skipper is making his awaited return to competitive cricket after six months and is keen on making it a memorable one.
The 22-year-old speedster is the all-time highest wicket-taker with 75 wickets from 53 appearances and has topped the wicket-taking charts in two of the previous three seasons. Afridi along with another Lahore starlet Haris Rauf will be posing the biggest threat to the Sultans.
Predicted Playing XI
Multan Sultan: Mohammad Rizwan ©, Shan Masood, Usman Khan, Tim David, David Miller, Kieron Pollard, Khushdil Shah, Usama Mir, Shahnawaz Dahani, Ihsanullah, Abbas Afridi
Lahore Qalandars: Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Sam Billings, Kamran Ghulam, Sikandar Raza, David Wiese, Shaheen Afridi ©, Haris Rauf, Jalat Khan, Zaman Khan
Prediction
Lahore is accommodated with a potent bowling unit while Multan’s strength lies in their star-studded batting unit. It is quite hard to predict the winner of this contest between two equally strong units, however, the Green and Blues have a slight edge of playing in front of the home crowd at Multan Cricket Stadium.