PSL 2020: Franchises announce squads for playoffs

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is all set to resume the 2020 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL 2020) which has halted in March due to the rise in the number of coronavirus cases in the country. Four PSL teams namely Multan Sultans, Karachi Kings, Lahore Qalandars, and Peshawar Zalmi had qualified for the playoffs and will feature in the remaining four matches of Pakistan’s marquee event, which will be played in Karachi on 14, 15 and 17 November.

Considering the availability of overseas players, all the four franchises have made potential changes in their squad. A total of 21 foreign players will feature in the league; one each from Australia and New Zealand, two from Bangladesh, six from England, seven from South Africa, and four from the West Indies.

One noteworthy change in the Peshawar Zalmi squad is the inclusion of former South African captain Faf du Plessis. Du Plessis will be making his debut in PSL as a replacement for Kieron Pollard who will be touring New Zealand with the West Indies team. Along with Faf, Zalmi has also roped in Hardus Viljoen, Yasir Shah, and Khurram Shahzad in the place of Liam Dawson, Lewis Gregory, and Amir Khan.

Excited to join Peshawar Zalmi: Faf du Plessis

Sharing his thoughts about playing in the playoffs for Peshawar, Faf du Plessis reckoned as quoted by the official website of PSL, “I am very excited to join Peshawar Zalmi for the playoff stage games of PSL 2020. I have fond memories of playing in Pakistan when I toured with the ICC World XI in 2017 and I am sure this experience, although different due to Covid-19, will be a memorable one as well.”

Speaking of Karachi Kings, Sherfane Rutherford comes in for Chris Jordan and Waqas Maqsood has effectively replaced Ali Khan. Lahore Qalandars have also made three changes to their squad as they replaced Chris Lynn with Tamim Iqbal while Abid Ali replaces Salman Butt and Agha Salman takes over from Seekkuge Prasanna. As far as Multan Sultans are concerned, Mahmudullah comes in for Moeen Ali, and Adam Lyth replaced Fabian Allen

Squads:

Karachi Kings – Aamir Yamin, Alex Hales (England), Arshad Iqbal, Awais Zia, Babar Azam, Cameron Delport (South Africa), Chadwick Walton (West Indies), Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mitchel McClenaghan (New Zealand), Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Sharjeel Khan, Sherfane Rutherford (West Indies), Umaid Asif, Umer Khan,Usama Mir and Waqas Maqsood

Lahore Qalandars – Abid Ali, Agha Salman, Ben Dunk (Australia), Dane Vilas (South Africa), David Wiese (South Africa), Dilbar Hussain, Fakhar Zaman, Farzan Raja, Haris Rauf, Jaahid Ali, Maaz Khan, Mohammad Faizan, Mohammad Hafeez, Samit Patel (England), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sohail Akhtar, Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh) and Usman Shinwari

Multan Sultans – Adam Lyth (England), Ali Shafiq, Bilawal Bhatti, Imran Tahir (South Africa), James Vince (England), Junaid Khan, Khushdil Shah, Mahmudullah (Bangladesh), Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Irfan, Ravi Bopara (England), Rilee Rossouw (South Africa), Rohail Nazir, Shaan Masood, Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Usman Qadir and Zeeshan Ashraf

Peshawar Zalmi – Aamir Ali, Adil Amin, Carlos Brathwaite (West Indies), Daren Sammy (West Indies), Faf du Plessis (South Africa), Haider Ali Khan, Hardus Viljoen (South Africa), Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Khurram Shehzad, Liam Livingstone (England), Mohammad Mohsin, Rahat Ali, Shoaib Malik, Umar Amin, Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah