It is time for domestic cricket fans to rejoice as the fifth edition of the Pakistan Super League is to officially commence from Thursday, February 19. The series of matches will bring together the six teams comprising national and international ace cricketers.
The 34 matches of the T20 tournament will be played in four international venues — Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Multan.
The opening ceremony of the tournament will take place at Karachi’s National Stadium, where more than 350 artists are slated to perform to what is expected to be a full house.
Reigning champions Quetta Gladiators will open the event, taking on two-time former winners Islamabad United.
The playoffs, including the final, will be played at the Qaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Schedule
Squads
Karachi Kings
Imad Wasim (captain), Babar Azam, Mohammad Amir, Iftikhar Ahmed, Aamir Yamin, Usama Mir, Umer Khan, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Sharjeel Khan, Cameron Delport, Mohammad Rizwan, Umaid Asif, Chadwick Walton, Ali Khan, Arshad Iqbal, Mitch McClenaghan, Awais Zia
Lahore Qalandars
Sohail Akhtar (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shaheen Shah Afridi, David Wiese, Usman Shinwari, Haris Rauf, Salman Butt, Chris Lynn, Samit Patel, Seekkuge Prasanna, Ben Dunk, Farzan Raja, Jaahid Ali, Muhammad Faizan, Dane Vilas, Dilbar Hussain
Islamabad United
Shadab Khan (captain), Faheem Ashraf, Asif Ali, Luke Ronchi, Hussain Talat, Amad Butt, Musa Khan, Dale Steyn, Colin Ingram, Colin Munro, Rumman Raees, Rizwan Hussain, Phil Salt, Zafar Gohar, Akif Javed, Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Saif Badar, Dawid Malan
Quetta Gladiators
Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain), Mohammad Nawaz, Shane Watson, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Hasnain, Ahsan Ali, Naseem Shah, Jason Roy, Ben Cutting, Fawad Ahmed, Sohail Khan, Tymal Mills, Abdul Nasir, Arish Ali Khan, Azam Khan, Keemo Paul, Khurram Manzoor, Zahid Mehmood
Multan Sultans
Shan Masood (captain), Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Irfan, James Vince, Junaid Khan, Moeen Ali, Rilee Rossouw, Zeeshan Ashraf, Ravi Bopara, Sohail Tanvir, Ali Shafiq, Khushdil Shah, Usman Qadir, Fabian Allen, Mohammad Ilyas, Rohail Nazir, Imran Tahir, Bilawal Bhatti, Wayne Madsen
Peshawar Zalmi
Darren Sammy (captain), Hasan Ali, Kieron Pollard, Wahab Riaz, Kamran Akmal, Imam-ul-Haq, Umar Amin, Tom Banton, Shoaib Malik, Liam Dawson, Mohammad Mohsin, Rahat Ali, Lewis Gregory, Adil Amin, Amir Khan, Aamir Ali, Liam Livingstone, Haider Ali, Carlos Brathwaite