ISLAMABAD, Mar 20 (APP): The Pakistan Super League (PSL) Season 9 saw country’s local contingent showcasing top notch in the extravaganza, as to get on the selectors’ radar for the T20 World Cup to be held in the USA and Caribbean.
With a number of withdrawals and the unavailability of many overseas players, it was down to Pakistan’s local contingent to make their quality known in this ninth PSL edition.
ESPNcricinfo looks at five players who performed well in the tournament and are to look for keeping in mind the upcoming T20 World Cup. The five players include Haider Ali, Imad Wasim, Mehran Mumtaz, Abrar Ahmed and Usman Khan.
Haider Ali (103 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 163.49), was at his best, a seductively clean ball-striker. He was left unpicked at the draft before Islamabad United plumped for him as a late replacement. And two nerveless, unbeaten innings in virtual knockouts for United conjured flashbacks of the kind of player Pakistan thought they were getting with Haider.
Competition for places is much less fierce in those lower-middle-order positions, and the upcoming T20Is against New Zealand would be the perfect time for a trial.
Next was Imad Wasim (126 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 128.57 | 12 wickets in 12 innings at an economy rate of 6.60), who last played for Pakistan over a year ago, and has officially retired from international cricket, but it’s difficult to ignore him.
Imad’s consistently effective all-round showings this tournament were a throwback to a time when he opened the bowling for a side that won 11 T20I series in a row. Injuries, and a perceived lack of commitment to fitness, have seen his international career fade, but with the bulk of this year’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, the case for one last dance with the international side has only become stronger.
His economy rate of 6.60 was matchless – no bowler (minimum 25 overs) came within almost a full run of it – and his ability to nibble away at opposition top orders without being a run-leaker is far too alluring a combination to ignore.
Third was Mehran Mumtaz (5 wickets in five innings at an economy rate of 6.63), who gets the ball to grip and turn while bowling at near 100kph. Mumtaz, the 20-year-old left-arm bowler, didn’t play much of the PSL, but in the five games he did, he was both captivating and effective. He took five wickets, but it was the economy rate that stood out – 6.63, a smidge over Imad’s.
He remains an unknown quantity to most in Pakistan, but Pakistan have 12 games before the T20I World Cup, and an ideal opportunity to test him.
Fourth was Abrar Ahmed (16 wickets in ten innings at an economy rate of 7.82), who broke through at PSL with Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi before injuries wiped years off his career. But when he re-emerged, Pakistan, for some reason, viewed him as a red-ball specialist, handing him his international debut against England in Multan.
He made an instant impression, taking five wickets before lunch and since, the six matches he’s played have all come in the Test format.
He was the third-highest wicket-taker of the tournament, taking a wicket every 15 deliveries at an economy rate superior to Usama Mir’s or Mohammad Ali’s, the only bowlers more prolific. He was an invaluable part of the Quetta Gladiators side, bowling his full quota in all ten games. If he can remain injury free over the upcoming swing leading to the World Cup, expect to see him in a green shirt with the white ball in hand at some point. Perhaps even in the Caribbean.
Usman Khan (430 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 164.12), who was good enough isn’t a doubt at the moment. At PSL, only Babar Azam scored more runs and Usman played four fewer games, scoring two of the PSL’s four hundreds at an average in excess of 107 and a strike rate exceeding 164.
He changed his affiliation to the UAE in 2022 but he’s still got 14 months left to qualify for the UAE, and though he was lukewarm about his ambitions to play for Pakistan, there is little doubt Pakistan wouldn’t want to let a player like him slip away quite so easily.
