PSL 2019: Team wise probable stand-out player

T20 cricket is the flavour of the town. The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) has come to an end and the Big Bash League (BBL) is almost coming to a close. But the action doesn’t stop there as a new edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) commences from the 14th of February.

The fourth edition of the PSL will be played in two halves as for the first time in the history of the league eight games will be played in Pakistan. Six teams will battle it out for the title in what will be a month-long tournament.

Each team has a few stars but there are stand-outs in each side. Hence, with the PSL slated to begin in a few days, let’s look at the stand-out player from each team.

Lahore Qalandars – AB de Villiers

Despite biding adieu to international cricket, the South African star hasn’t lost his touch. He was in decent touch in the Mzansi Super League (MSL) where he scored 282 runs at an average of 31.33. But he was in his zone in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) as he scored 247 runs in six innings at an average of 61.75.

This will be de Villiers’ first appearance in the PSL. In what is a strong Lahore Qalandars side, the retired South African superstar will be a key player batting in the middle-order. The Qalandars have a strong bowling attack and De Villiers will be leading the charge with the bat.

Karachi Kings – Babar Azam

Babar Azam has been Pakistan’s best batsman in limited-overs cricket over the last few years. He has become Pakistan’s most dependable batsman and has redefined batting in T20 cricket over the last year or so. He averages 53.72 in T20Is and is currently the No. 1 T20I batsman in the ICC Rankings.

The 24-year-old batsman has been in fabulous form in the recent past. He had an excellent tour of South Africa and he will be looking to continue that form in the PSL as well. He will be Karachi Kings’ lead batsman and despite some top international batsmen around in the team, he is the standout player and will be a key part of Karachi’s quest for their maiden PSL title.

Islamabad United – Luke Ronchi

The former New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman was the star in last season’s PSL. He amassed 435 runs in 11 innings at an excellent strike-rate of 182. Luke Ronchi won five Man of the Match awards and was also the Player of the Tournament last year.

Hence, he will be leading the side this time around. Islamabad United have a strong core of local players and international players and Ronchi will look to lead from the front. He has done well at the top of the order and will be keen to replicate his past heroics as Islamabad look to defend their title.

Quetta Gladiators – Sunil Narine

Ever since the experienced Sunil Narine started opening the batting, his Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is constantly on the rise. The Windies mystery spinner has been opening the batting regularly over the last couple of years in T20 leagues across the world and has been providing brisk starts.

Narine has been in excellent form. He picked up 18 wickets in the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). The 30-year-old spinner bowled with an economy of 6.35 and a strike-rate of 18.6. He also scored 279 runs at a strike-rate of 143.07. Hence, he is the standout player in the Quetta Gladiators side.

Multan Sultans – Andre Russell

The star Windies all-rounder is one of the best when it comes to the shortest format of the game. He is a brutal striker of the ball and can turn games in the span of a few deliveries. Not only with the bat, he can also produce game-changing spells as well. Andre Russell has been in terrific form and emerged as one of Dhaka Dynamites’ best players in the BPL this year.

He amassed 299 runs at an average of 33.22 and a strike-rate of 156.54. He also scalped 14 wickets and he was one of the main reasons for Dynamites’ run to the final. The hulk-like power-hitter has come in as a replacement for Steve Smith but he is certainly one of the key players and one of the standout players for the Multan Sultans.

Peshawar Zalmi – Kamran Akmal

It’s been close to two years since Kamran Akmal donned the Pakistan colours. However, the 37-year-old wicket-keeper batsman has been in good form over the last year or so. In the PSL last year, he finished as the second highest run-getter as he scored 425 runs in the season which included one hundred and four half-centuries.

In the recently-concluded National T20 Cup (Pakistan’s domestic T20 tournament), he struck 225 runs in five games and was dismissed under 25 just once. Like last year, once again Akmal will be the key for Peshawar Zalmi as they look to go one better this year (they finished as the runners-up last year).

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