Power-packed Zalmi eye elusive HBL PSL 6 trophy

Peshawar Zalmi currently occupy the second spot in the points table of the Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Pakistan Super League (PSL) season six and look poised to unleash their explosive line-up as the tournament resumes in the UAE.

The Zalmi side has played five matches so far, winning three and losing two, and currently stand on six points with a net run rate of +0.273.

Peshawar Zalmi will be without the services of Afghanistan’s spinner Mujeebur Rehman, England’s batsman Liam Livingstone and England’s pacer Saqib Mahmood. West Indies’ all-rounder Fabian Allen, West Indies’ all-rounder Rovman Powell and Barbadian pacer Fidel Edwards have been selected as the replacements for the Peshawar Zalmi outfit.

The Zalmi side will once again rely on the services of its explosive batting unit, led by the consistently phenomenal wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal.

Batsman Haider Ali showed glimpses of brilliance in the middle-order and his side will be hoping for a consistent showing from the talented youngster to continue their successful run in the HBL PSL season six.

A lot will also be expected of veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik, who will be itching to make a mark in the tournament in order to make a case to be included in the national side before the upcoming Twenty20 (T20) World Cup.

Peshawar Zalmi’s skipper Wahab Riaz seemed satisfied with their rejigged squad and expressed excitement for the resumption of the tournament.

 “We are really excited about the resumption of the HBL Pakistan Super League 6. Like the rest of the sides, we also have a rejigged squad in terms of our foreign players,” Riaz said.

“We are pleased with our replacements as the trio of Fabian Allen, Fidel Edwards and Rovman Powell provide us with good T20 options. We have some seasoned T20 campaigners, Shoaib Malik, Imam-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal provide us with that experience and skill in the batting department backed by young Haider Ali. Mohammad Irfan, Umaid Asif and I would aim to lead the bowling attack in Abu Dhabi. Our young pacers Mohammad Imran and Amir Khan are also full of promise and potential and have a significant role to play for us in Abu Dhabi.  We had a good run in Karachi and we would be aiming to further improve our performance in the remaining round matches to ensure a top two position which will help us in the play-offs,” he added.

Peshawar Zalmi squad for the remaining matches:

Wahab Riaz (c), Abrar Ahmed, Amad Butt, Bismillah Khan, David Miller (partially available), Fabian Allen (partially available), Fidel Edwards (partially available), Haider Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Amir Khan, Mohammad Irfan Snr, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Imran Randhawa, Rovman Powell, Waqar Salamkheil, Sherfane Rutherford, Shoaib Malik, and Umaid Asif

Fixtures:

Peshawar Zalmi v Lahore Qalandars

Peshawar Zalmi v Karachi Kings

Multan Sultans v Peshawar Zalmi

Quetta Gladiators v Peshawar Zalmi

Islamabad United v Peshawar Zalmi