Quetta Gladiators get foreign boost ahead of PSL final

The Quetta Gladiators are all set to introduce themselves with a completely advanced squad from the one which helped them qualify for the ultimate showdown. The Gladiators team management did a brilliant job in persuading five of their foreign players to appear for the finals as soon as they got a hint of their opponent on Saturday.

All of these 5 foreign players had previously declined the opportunity to travel to Pakistan and be a part of the PSL final for security reasons. The players who have come to terms to wear the Quetta jersey in the final are Bangladesh’s Anamul Haque, South Africa’s More Van Wyk, Zimbabwe’s Elton Chigumbura and Sean Ervine and the West Indian Ryad Emrit.

Though they do not match the might of missing players like Kevin Pietersen, Tymal Mills, Nathan MacCullum, Rilee Roussow and Luke Wright the Gladiator bench will be satisfied that they at least have some foreign firepower to put up a fight.

Haque, Van Wyk, and Zimbabwe duo Chigumbura and Ervine are expected to join the services on Sunday morning while the management is still working to land Rayad Emrit in Lahore before the match starts at 8 pm. The Gladiators have also suffered a huge blow as they will be without the experienced Umar Gul but have found a replacement in the name of Pakistani pacer Aizaz Cheema. The team will also have the support of team mentor Sir Vivian Richards and fielding coach Julien Fountain on Sunday as these two foreign recruits will arrive on the morning itself.

Also read- Lahore gears up for the PSL final

The Quetta franchise quoted, “KP, Luke, Rilee, Mills would have been great but we respect their decision. We are still confident of winning the PSL final despite missing the big stars. For our local players, playing at home is a huge opportunity. The experience of playing in front of the home crowd is massive, and all of them are excited about it.”

There has been a massive craze for the tickets as they are being sold extremely fast and we can expect a jam-packed Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday to witness the PSL finale. The domestic talents have already arrived in Lahore and began their preparations for the final at the National Cricket Academy.

The PCB stands rock solid over their decision of hosting the final in Lahore and has ensured a stronger than ever security cover this time with three layers of security check. Security measures start from two kilometers from the ground and a new range of scanning CCTV equipment has been installed to raise the standards. Forces will be distributed all over the area with over 8000 officers including Pakistan’s paramilitary force The Rangers.