This piece is being written before the playoffs formally begin with Wednesday’s Qualifier between Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators, which would’ve been followed by the first Eliminator between Karachi Kings and Islamabad United. Today (Friday) one of Zalmi and Gladiators will be playing one of Kings and United depending on who loses the first playoff and who wins the second. The grand finale is all set for Sunday.
Hence, more so than a preview of the final, this piece is an acknowledgment of how the fourth season has been yet another success story for the Pakistan Super League. This is especially true for the Karachi leg, which eight matches set to be played in Pakistan this year, as the country – and the league – takes massive steps towards eventually hosting the entire PSL in the country of its origin in the near future.
The regular visits of foreign stars to Pakistan – first Zimbabwe’s tour in 2015; then the PSL final, ICC World XI and Sri Lanka in 2017; followed by the PSL playoffs and West Indies in 2018 – have meant that the Pakistan Cricket Board is getting closer to hosting all of its matches in the country.
Last year's final
As PSL spearheads change, the league itself has seen a status quo being reaffirmed
Pakistan will host Australia in the UAE later this month. Then the national team would be on the road for the next few months, with this summer’s ODI World Cup being the highlight of the rest of the year. Come October, Pakistan would be hosting Sri Lanka and work in ongoing to ensure that the Test match series takes place in Pakistan and not UAE, with Bangladesh set to tour early next year as well.
The packed crowds in Karachi, even before the playoffs, underline just how much the locals have craved for cricket’s return home.
Where the PSL has been spearheading the quest to fulfill bring about that change, the league itself has seen status quo being reaffirmed among the competitors.
Peshawar Zalmi beat Karachi Kings on Monday
Once again, Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators have been the trendsetters in the pool stages, with two time champions Islamabad United peaking in time for the playoffs. Once again, Karachi Kings managed to squeeze into the playoffs, as the outsiders challenging the three most dominant sides in the PSL – but this time with home advantage. Once again, Multan Sultans missed out on the playoffs as the newest PSL franchise continued to fail to gel sufficiently to get any winning run going. And of course, once again, for the fourth season running, Lahore Qalandars have finished bottom of the pile following the group stages.
The most coveted franchise in the league, Lahore Qalandars, has been graced with global stars like Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum and AB De Villiers, and yet none of them could help it make any progress towards fighting for a playoff position, let alone thinking about winning the whole thing. Maybe Rana Fawad needs to ring the changes in the management and bring about a complete overhaul so that Lahore can overcome its streak of failure.
Shane Watson and Viv Richards
Meanwhile, Multan Sultans too might have a new look next season, but being a new franchise it’s not under the same kind of pressure as Qalandars.
It would be great for PSL if Kings can qualify for Sunday’s final, unless of course they have already been beaten by United in Thursday’s eliminator by the time you read this. It’s always great for any competition to see a new side excelling and with the Pakistan leg being held in its entirety in Karachi, the proverbial roof would be blown if the Kings can make it to the finale.
any neutrals would also be hoping for Gladiators to break their duck having been the runners-up in two of the three PSL seasons and regularly dominating the pool stages. A win for either Zalmi or United would mean that the PSL stranglehold would remain between those two cities.
As the cliche goes, whoever wins on Sunday, it’s Pakistan’s triumph in the end. But the feel-good factor and the continued resumption of international cricket shouldn’t take away from the fact that the competition in the ground is fierce, and there is a major piece of silverware at stake this Sunday.
