United take on Zalmi as HBL PSL begins tonight

Misbah-ul-Haq will have a point to prove when he marshals his Islamabad United troops in their opening game of HBL Pakistan Super League 2 against Darren Sammy’s Peshawar Zalmi in Dubai on Thursday (today).

The veteran batsman captained United to a title-winning triumph in the inaugural edition of the PSL last February overshadowing more star-studded teams like Lahore Qalandar and Karachi Kings.

Misbah would want to tell the world that his team’s success last year was no beginners’ luck as he spearheads Islamabad’s campaign for a title defence in the UAE.

On a personal note, Misbah will want his bat to do the talking in response to growing criticism over his role in the Pakistan Test team both as captain and key batsman.

Experts argue that the 42-year-old should retire from Test cricket in the wake of his disastrous run with the bat in the antipodes recently. Misbah flopped miserably both in New Zealand and Australia as Pakistan were whitewashed in back-to-back Test series.

Misbah hold a key place in the defending champions’ batting line-up both because of his experience and stroke-making ability.

Islamabad suffered a blow when they lost key player Andre Russell, the West Indian star who was slapped with a drugs ban just days before the start of the PSL.

But United have the services of seasoned Aussie stars – Shane Watson and Brad Haddin, who helped them win the inaugural event. Other key players including the big-hitting Sharjeel Khan, Samuel Badree and the towering pace duo of Mohammad Irfan and Steve Finn.

In their opening game tonight, Islamabad will take on Peshawar Zalmi, the side whom they knocked out in the qualifying finals last year.

Zalmi had the momentum going into the business end of the event last year when they topped the group stage under Shahid Afridi’s captaincy. But they lost must-win games by narrow margins to fall out of the race for the title.

This time, Darren Sammy has the team’s command that includes names like England’s Eoin Morgan and Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mohammad Hafeez and Marlon Samuels.

The opening game, which will be preceded by an opening ceremony featuring Shaggy and Ali Zafar, should set the tone for an action-packed tournament.

Najam Sethi, the PSL chairman, on Wednesday promised a breath taking ceremony to launch the second edition of the HBL PSL.

“I want to retain an element of surprise before the opening ceremony, it should be an enthralling evening, I also welcome and thank the stars especially Shaggy who has flown down to Dubai for the event, Ali Zafar, Shehzad Roy and Fahad Mustafa will all be making a big contribution as we endeavour to deliver an enthralling success,” he said in Dubai.

Jamaican superstar Shaggy spoke about his association about the game of cricket as he expressed his excitement before his performance for the opening ceremony.

“It is great to be here and I look forward to performing at the ceremony, it should be an exciting affair and the Pakistan cricket fans will surely enjoy the spectacle. I have a long association with Chris Gayle while Courtney Walsh (Former West Indian Fast Bowler) was my neighbour in Jamaica.”

With the stage set, the onus will be on both the players and officials to make PSL a bigger success than it was year.

Some in the cricketing world might label it as a sideshow when compared with the super-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) which begins on April 7.

But the PSL has quickly grown into a brand that has forced cricket fans both in Pakistan and abroad to take it seriously. The condensed tournament featuring just five teams seems pretty attractive for the overseas stars, something underlined by the fact that Kevin Pietersen opted to skip the IPL but is featuring in the PSL. Then there are other crowd-puller, too, with Brendon McCullum and Chris Gayle in the star-studded line-up.

THE SQUADS

Islamabad United: Misbah-ul- Haq (capt), Shane Watson, Steven Finn (replaces Andre Russell), Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Samuel Badree, Mohammad Sami, Khalid Latif, Brad Haddin, Sam Billings, Hussain Talat, Amad Butt, Dwayne Smith, Ben Duckkett, Shadab Khan, Zohaib Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Imran Khalid, Asif Ali, Rumman Raees, Syed Muzammil Shah.

Peshawar Zalmi: Darren Sammy (capt), Shahid Afridi, Sohaib Maqsood, Eoin Morgan, Wahab Riaz, Tilakaratne Dilshan, Mohammad Hafeez, Chris Jordan, Samit Patel, Kamran Akmal, Iftikhar Ahmed, Harris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Asghar, Marlon Samuels, Andre Fletcher, Khushdil Shah, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Imran Khan (jr), Junaid Khan, M. Irfan Khan.

Quetta Gladiators: Sarfraz Ahmed (capt), Umar Gul, Asad Shafiq, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Nawaz, Kevin Pietersen, Luke Wright, Rilee Rossouw, Mahmudullah Riyad, Anwar Ali, Tymal Mills, Hassan Khan, Nathan McCullum, Thisara Perera, Bismillah Khan, Mir Hamza, Zulfiqar Babar, Saad Nasim, Umar Amin, Noor Wali.

Lahore Qalandars: Brendon McCullum (capt), Azhar Ali, Aamer Yamin, Sohail Tanvir, Sunil Narine, Umar Akmal, Jason Roy, Yasir Shah, James Franklin, Mohammad Rizwan, Cameron Delport, Fakhar Zaman, Bilawal Bhatti, Ghulam Mudassar, Usman Qadir, Grant Elliot, Chris Green, Saif Badar, Mohammad Irfan (Jr.), Zafar Gohar.

Karachi Kings: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Shoaib Malik, Chris Gayle, Babar Azam, Ravi Bopara, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Safiullah Bangash, Shazaib Hasan, Sohail Khan, Kieron Pollard, Ryan McLaren, Khurram Manzoor, Kashif Bhatti, Abrar Ahmed, Abdul Hameed/Hasan Mohsin, Mahela Jayawardene, Usama Mir, Rahat Ali, Amad Alam.