PAKISTAN SUPER LEAGUE: Narine, Umar to play for Quetta Gladiators

ISLAMABAD: West Indies spinner Sunil Narine, who is becoming more famous for his power hitting, and middle-order batsman Umar Akmal will be moving from Lahore Qalandars to Quetta Gladiators as part of a trade between the two Pakistan Super League franchises.

In return, pace bowler Rahat Ali and young left-arm spinner Hassan Khan have moved from Gladiators to Qalandars.

Narine, who played two seasons for the Qalandars in 2017 and 2018, brings a wealth of experience with 299 T20 appearances and 342 wickets across different leagues and tournaments in the world. Of late his power hitting at the start of T20 innings is gaining more popularity.

Umar’s move to Gladiators marks a new chapter in the batsman’s T20 career who will be looking to improve on his performances from last year. Umar, 28, had an unimpressive run last year but his overall tally of 556 runs at a strike rate of 138 in 20 PSL matches brings more batting depth to the Gladiators.

This deal will also see Lahore taking Quetta’s first round Platinum pick and Quetta getting Lahore’s Silver round pick in the second round.

Sameen Rana, COO of Lahore Qalandars said: “On behalf of the Lahore Qalandars management and fans, we would like to thank Sunil and Umar for their services to the team. They added tremendous value to the Qalandars and I wish them well on this next chapter in their PSL careers.

“We are very excited to welcome Rahat Ali and Hassan Khan to the Qalandars family. Rahat showed what he is capable of with the ball in this format with his excellent bowling last year and Hassan has impressed everyone with his determination and calmness on the field.”

Quetta Gladiators owner Nadeem Omar said: “Sunil Narine and Umar Akmal are world class additions to the Gladiators squad ahead of PSL season 4.

“Sunil Narine is a magician with the ball and one of the best match winners when in T20 cricket. Umar Akmal, too, remains one of the most destructive batsmen in Pakistan and he will add much needed firepower in our batting.

“I would also like to thank Hassan Khan and Rahat Ali for being exemplary ambassadors for Quetta Gladiators. Both these talented cricketers will always have a special place in the Gladiators family.”