Qalandars' new dawn, Alex Hales' big month and the old guard continue to rule... PSL THINGS TO WATCH

The Cricketer runs through some of the more intriguing elements of this year's Pakistan Super League ahead of the new season

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Lahore Qalandars: New dawn or false dawn?

Until 2020, Lahore Qalandars had only ever finished bottom of the pile in the first four editions of the Pakistan Super League. So, a surprise run to the final, including an eliminator victory over group winners Multan Sultans, was a turn-up for the books.

Captained by the understated Sohail Akhtar, dragged along by a raft of unlikely overseas stars and spearheaded by a potent Pakistani seam attack, they defied history, before losing out to Karachi Kings in the November final.

There were 17 wickets for Shaheen Shah Afridi, 14 for Dilbar Hussain and 10 for Haris Rauf. County stalwarts Samit Patel and David Wiese played crucial roles with bat and ball, while Chris Lynn, Ben Dunk, Mohammad Hafeez, Akhtar and Fakhar Zaman all provided regular runs. All told, for a previously ragtag outfit, runner-up status represented a fine effort.

And so, the question now is straightforward: can they repeat that feat or was last year merely a flash in the pan?

All you need to know ahead of the PSL

Certainly, Aaqib Javed’s franchise was responsible for the most eye-catching piece of draft recruitment, adding Rashid Khan to an already powerful bowling attack.

The answer, however, will lie in Qalandars’ batting line-up – shorn of Lynn, who was snapped up by Multan Sultans in January. Dunk has endured a lean spell since last year in franchise cricket, struggling in the Caribbean Premier League and the Big Bash. And so, Englishmen Joe Denly and Tom Abell have been recruited with easing that burden in mind.

If the top order can provide a sufficiently solid platform, Qalandars might just have the tools at their disposal to push again for a maiden PSL title.

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Alex Hales has re-joined Islamabad United

Shan Masood a victim of Mohammad Rizwan’s success

Shan Masood appears to have been a victim of Mohammad Rizwan’s success. The left-handed opening batsman led Multan Sultans through the round-robin phase imperiously early in 2020, so much so that when the tournament was initially curtailed due to the coronavirus outbreak, several observers suggested handing Sultans the title on the basis of their performance in the group stage.

However, overseas unavailability – coupled with the pressure of knockout cricket – combined to bring a promising campaign to an anticlimactic end. For Masood, this marked the end of the road as captain. His initial appointment fit in with the data-driven approach adopted by the franchise in the tournament in 2020, working alongside head coach Andy Flower and analyst Nathan Leamon.

But Rizwan’s stock has been on the rise in the last 12 months – initially on account of his performances in Test cricket, and latterly on the back of terrific displays in the recent T20I series against South Africa. He made his maiden T20 hundred on February 11, following that effort with scores of 51 and 42.

Now Pakistan’s Test vice-captain, Rizwan wasn’t even a Multan player last year, instead warming the bench for the most part at Karachi Kings, who preferred Chadwick Walton as their option behind the stumps.

Pakistan Super League: 2021 squads

“The captain said I am a top-order batman and then didn't give me opportunity to play,” he explained last March in a thinly veiled criticism of Kings skipper Imad Wasim.

Sultans, though, have decided otherwise. Rizwan’s signing represented an astute piece of business after losing Zeeshan Ashraf to Lahore Qalandars.

In a statement, Sultans owner Alamgir Tareen said: “Mohammad Rizwan has shown exemplary leadership qualities with the Pakistan team as well as with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the domestic tournaments.

“He is presently one of the very best in the world in his position and we are excited to have him lead our team for the upcoming season of the Pakistan Super League.

“We are grateful to Shan Masood for leading the franchise exceptionally well last season and for instilling a winning mentality within the team.”

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Islamabad United’s top three… and Alex Hales

Paul Stirling, Alex Hales, Phil Salt. It is by no means certain that Islamabad United will line up with the trio as their top three, but the thought that they might is a mouth-watering prospect for county cricket fans back in England – not to mention supporters in Ireland, who will look at Stirling’s opportunity in a major franchise competition as long overdue reward for an anthology of match-winning performances.

For Hales in particular, this feels like a significant tournament. Fresh from individual success in the Big Bash with Sydney Thunder, talk around an England recall has arguably never been louder since he was deselected on the eve of the World Cup two years ago.

Now, having moved back from Karachi Kings to Islamabad, all eyes will be on him. If he can replicate his recent returns, England might just struggle to continue ignoring the Nottinghamshire man.

How will the old guard fare?

“T20 is an old man’s game,” Ravi Bopara told The Cricketer in 2019. Dan Christian declared simply on Twitter last August that “old blokes win stuff”.

And amid the line-up of players for this year’s Pakistan Super League, including both Bopara and Christian themselves, the claims of two veteran allrounders are backed up by significant evidence.

For every new kid on the block – say, Tom Banton or Haider Ali – there is a seasoned pro who knows the ropes of the franchise game.

Fawad Ahmed and Faf du Plessis are the latest senior statesmen to have signed up, replacing Colin Munro and Chris Gayle, respectively.

They are joined by several other veterans, including Mohammad Nabi, Chadwick Walton, Mohammad Hafeez, Samit Patel, Shahid Afridi, Imran Tahir, Sohail Tanvir, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Irfan and Dale Steyn.

Between the 16 players highlighted above, they share 603 years and an average age over 37. But when all is said and done, they will get the job done.

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Lahore Qalandars had only ever finished bottom until last year

David Gower’s TV return

Lord Gower of Sky has returned to his parish – via the Pakistan Super League. Who’d have thought it? The former England captain is part of the competition’s official coverage, for which Sky Sports have the broadcast rights in the United Kingdom.

His dulcet tones have been missing from our screens since the conclusion of the Ashes in 2019, though he has kept his voice box in good order through a number of radio stints. This, though, marks his television return, alongside Simon Doull, JP Duminy, Pommie Mbangwa, Dominic Cork, Alan Wilkins, Danny Morrison, Sana Mir, Bazid Khan, Ramiz Raja and Urooj Mumtaz.

He will be heard through the Karachi leg of the competition, which begins on February 20.

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