Karachi vs Karachi lite as Kings take on Quetta in PSL 2021 opener

Karachi Kings vs Quetta Gladiators: PSL 2021 1st match preview, February 20

February 20, 2021

It's Karachi Kings who officially carry the port city and economic hub's name but it has long been argued that the city's true representatives actually are Quetta Gladiators, who are not only owned by a Karachi-based business but also led and coached by sons of Karachi (Sarfaraz Ahmed and Moin Khan).

It's apt then that the opening match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2021 is Karachi vs Quetta. Or in other words, "Karachi in name only" vs "the real Karachi". 

Gladiators, who failed to make it to the play-offs last season, finishing fifth in the round robin league stage, have got ample resources to make up for their last season’s failure. 

The Sarfraz -led side look balanced, featuring Chris Gayle, Tom Banton, Cameron Delport and Azam Khan.

Gayle will return to West Indies after playing three initial matches due to national commitment, a Gladiators source told this correspondent on Friday. “Yes, after national commitment he will join us again for the Lahore leg,” the source said.

Former South Africa Test captain Faf Du Plessis has already been roped in as Gayle’s partial replacement.

With Dale Steyn not available for initial two matches due to domestic engagement Gladiators will depend on their young pace battery featuring the last season’s highly impressive Mohammad Hasnain, Usman Shinwari and Naseem Shah.

Gladiators also have some dangerous allrounders in Australia’s Ben Cutting, Anwar Ali and Mohammad Nawaz. There are two leggies in the squad, Afghanistan’s Qais Ahmad and Zahid Mahmood.

A Gladiators source told ‘The News’ on Friday that Zahid would be there in the first match.

“Yes Zahid will play 300 percent,” a source said.

Zahid recently had a dream T20 International debut against South Africa when he had two wickets in his first over, finishing with three wickets in the final game which Pakistan won to seal three-match series 2-1.

Besides having won the event once, Gladiators also remained runners-up two times.

In the PSL so far Gladiators have played ten matches against Karachi Kings and of them Gladiators won seven and lost just three. This will give them a psychological edge over the Kings.

“Last year Umar Akmal’s incident and travelling issues dented our journey. This time we are confident to do well,” Gladiators coach Moin Khan said. “It’s just the start. After the first match we will be in a position to know something about the lot as creating tight bonding needs some time,” Moin said.

It will be a fresh beginning for Karachi Kings under their new coach Herschelle Gibbs who has replaced Dean Jones who died last year in India due to cardiac failure.

Realising that Kings have more depth, Gibbs stressed it would be a new beginning for the players and hoped they would raise their performance graph with each match.

He feels that this is an exciting challenge for his charges to retain the crown.

“Some players might feel pressure for being champions. It’s the best chance to go all the way again. The sign of a true champion is the desire to become champion over and over again. It’s an exciting challenge,” Gibbs said.

Babar Azam leads the batting pack for Kings who also feature Colin Ingram, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Chadwick Walton, Joe Klarke, Australian allrounder Dan Christian and skipper Imad Wasim.

Left-arm seasoned pacer Mohammad Amir will lead the bowling which also carries Arshad Iqbal, Waqas Maqsood and Aamir Yamin.

Aleem Dar and Ahsan Raza will be the on-field umpires for the Saturday’s opener, Rashid Riaz will be the third umpire, Asif Yaqoob the fourth umpire and former Sri Lankan opener Roshan Mahanama will deliver his services as the match referee.

Comprehensive security arrangements have been made for conducting the event. Only 7500 fans will be able to witness the matches at NSK.

Karachi Kings: Amir Yamin (gold); Arshad Iqbal (emerging); Babar Azam (platinum); Colin Ingram (platinum, traded from Islamabad United); Chadwick Walton (gold); Dan Christian (diamond); Danish Aziz (silver); Imad Wasim (diamond, successful relation request); Joe Clarke (silver); Mohammad Amir (platinum); Mohammad Nabi (diamond); Mohammad Ilyas (silver); Noor Ahmed (supplementary); Sharjeel Khan (gold), Qasim Akram (emerging); Waqas Maqsood (silver, brand ambassador); Zeeshan Malik (silver)

Quetta Gladiators: Sarfaraz Ahmed, Qais Ahmad, Anwar Ali, Saim Ayub, Tom Banton, Ben Cutting, Cameron Delport, Chris Gayle, Mohammad Hasnain, Arish Ali Khan, Azam Khan, Hassan Khan, Usman Khan, Zahid Mahmood, Abdul Nasir, Mohammad Nawaz, Faf du Plessis, Naseem Shah, Usman Khan Shinwari, Dale Steyn.

Alam Zeb Safi is a senior reporter for The News

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