Karachi Kings

KARACHI KINGS

Squad

Babar Azam

Mohammad Amir

Colin Ingram

Imad Wasim (c)

Mohammad Nabi

Dan Christian

Aamer Yamin

Sharjeel Khan

Chadwick Walton (wk)

Waqas Maqsood

Joe Clarke (wk)

Danish Aziz

Mohammad Ilyas

Zeeshan Malik

Qasim Akram

Arshad Iqbal

Noor Ahmed

Karachi Kings

Karachi Kings won their first-ever PSL trophy last year but their celebrations did not last long as only four months after the conclusion of PSL 5, PSL 8 is set to start. Karachi stepped up their game last year with shrewd signings and under new management. Sadly, their head coach Dean Jones passed away prior to the restart of the tournament, but they will be indebted to the legendary Australian’s services to them. With the think-tank of Dean Jones and Wasim Akram, Karachi was irresistible, flying past Multan Sultans in the Qualifier and dismantling arch-rivals Lahore Qalandars in the final.

Karachi did not feel the pressure due to the calmness and confidence of Pakistan captain Babar Azam at the top of the order. He controlled almost each and every game and stabilized the entire batting unit. Karachi’s overseas contingent of Alex Hales, Chadwick Walton, and Chris Jordan was influential in their title-winning campaign as well, add to that the experience and skill of Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim, Karachi without a doubt had the strongest line-up in the tournament.

They say don’t fix until broken and that is what Karachi has done, they have retained their core players for PSL 8, with Babar Azam, Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim, Waqas Maqsood, Aamer Yamin, Sharjeel Khan, and Arshad Iqbal they already had 7 first eleven players in their squad. Add to that the trade with Islamabad United for Colin Ingram, they had 8 set players before entering the draft.

They added the extra bit of quality to their squad in the PSL 2021 draft, picking up the likes of Mohammad Nabi, Dan Christian, and Joe Clarke. Karachi looked to the domestic circuit and picked the best performers from the National T20 Cup as well. Opener Zeeshan Malik and all-rounders Danish Aziz and Qasim Akram make their squad immaculate once again.

For everything that went right for Karachi in the draft, they did miss one trick. They failed to replace fast bowler Chris Jordan, who was exceptional for them last season, providing support to Mohammad Amir. Their fast bowling unit does seem a little bit light in PSL 8, Mohammad Amir, Waqas Maqsood, Aamer Yamin, Arshad Iqbal, and Mohammad Ilyas are the only fast bowlers in their squad. The responsibility of fast bowling will lie on the shoulders of former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir, who on his day is one of the best fast bowlers in the world, but if things do go wrong, Karachi might be in trouble.

Imad Wasim, Qasim Akram, and Mohammad Nabi are the three spinners in the squad. Imad and Nab are extremely accurate and are rarely put away for a lot of runs, so expect them to choke out the opposition in the middle overs.

Batting is their strongest department. Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan, Colin Ingram, Joe Clarke, Chadwick Walton, and Dan Christian make up a fearsome batting unit and they have the ability to chase down the targets with the utmost ease.

Karachi Kings’ is all set to retain their trophy and be crowned as champions in PSL 8.