The second Pakistan Super League begins Thursday in Dubai when defending champions Islamabad United take on Peshawar Zaimi.
Click or swipe through for team-by-team guides of the tournament, which takes place all over the UAE before the final held in Lahore. | More info
Last season
• Winners: Islamabad United
• Runners-up: Quetta Gladiators
Final table
1 Peshawar Zalmi
2 Quetta Gladiators
3 Islamabad United
4 Karachi Kings
5 Lahore Qalandars
Opening round fixtures (Full fixtures here)
At the Dubai International Stadium
Thursday
• 8pm, Peshawar Zalmi v Islamabad United
Friday
• 3.30pm, Lahore Qalandars v Quetta Gladiators
• 8pm, Karachi Kings v Peshawar Zalmi
• Tickets available at www.q-tickets.com/PSL/
Prices range from Dh30 general admission to Dh250 for platinum tickets.
Click or swipe through for more
Islamabad United
Last year: Champions, third in the table
What has changed?
Well, at least they have had a practice match this time. They beat the UAE on Tuesday, and they hope to be better prepared than last year, when they started slowly.
It is not how you start, though, it is how you finish. “I suppose it is all very well when you win,” Dean Jones, the coach, said of the defending champions.
“We won our last five in a row, had our momentum going and planned it well, but we were under pressure at the start.”
Andre Russell, the West Indian who was the heartbeat of the team last season, will be a conspicuous absentee while he serves a one-year suspension for a doping-code violation.
Key man: Sharjeel Khan
The opener hit 19 sixes in 11 matches in last year’s competition, scoring at a strike rate of 149, and forced his way back into the Pakistan team as a result.
Young star: Shadab Khan
An 18-year-old leg spinner who was Pakistan’s leading wicket taker in the Under 19 World Cup in Bangladesh last year.
Karachi Kings
Last year: Fourth
What has changed?
Leadership was Karachi’s major failing last season. Shoaib Malik seemed an odd choice for captain, and he gave it up before the end of a skittish opening campaign.
They have moved to remedy that problem by recruiting two of history’s finest, the Sri Lankan double act Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene.
Sangakkara, who started in the rival Masters Champions League last year before joining Quetta Gladiators, arrives after an indifferent Big Bash League in Australia.
Key man: Ravi Bopara
The Kings are not short of batting firepower, with the likes of Sangakkara, Jaywardene and Chris Gayle arriving. However, Bopara, whose international achievements are modest in comparison to those other greats, was the Karachi kingpin last time around.
Young star: Babar Azam
It has been a revelatory six months for the 22-year-old batsman, who was undistinguished with Islamabad United in the first PSL. He scored three successive hundreds for Pakistan in ODIs in the UAE at the end of 2016, and averages 116 in T20 internationals.
Peshawar Zalmi
Last year: First in the table, beaten in the play-offs
What has changed?
Shahid Afridi, who is now finally without international cricket after more than 20 years of service, has handed over the captaincy reins to Darren Sammy.
While Afridi is idolised in Pakistan, and the darling of the crowds in Dubai and Sharjah too, Sammy has excellent captaincy pedigree.
The only player to have captained in two winning World T20 campaigns, the West Indian proved massively popular in the 2016 PSL.
Key man: Eoin Morgan
Back in form, after controversially skipping England’s series in Bangladesh, with scores of 40, 17, 51, 43 and 102 in India. And he likes UAE, too. His highest first-class score, 209 not out, came against the national team in Abu Dhabi while he still played for Ireland.
Young star: Hasan Ali
Only played three matches last year, but the canny young seamer, who turned 23 on Tuesday, has since stepped up for the Pakistan national team. He has shown he can be a nerveless death bowler.
Quetta Gladiators
Last year: Runners up, second in the table
What has changed?
Quetta lacked express pace last year. Their leading bowlers were either spinners — Mohammed Nawaz, Zulfiqar Babar — or medium-pacers — Grant Elliott, Anwar Ali.
How they have addressed that failing. In Tymal Mills, their new recruit from England, they have recruited potentially one of the quickest bowlers in the world.
Key man: Ahmed Shahzad
Currently on the outside looking in to the national team, the opener could relaunch his Pakistan career if he has a productive PSL. Top scored for Quetta last season, when he even scored 75 more runs than his celebrated batting colleague Kevin Pietersen.
Young star: Mohammed Nawaz
The embodiment of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s ideal for the PSL. It was set up to help give young, talented players a platform to advertise their talents. Left-handed all-rounder Nawaz took his chance, and was touring with the national team by the end of the year.
Lahore Qalandars
Last year: Last place
What has changed?
Last season could not have gone much worse, as they won just two matches and finished bottom of the table.
A root-and-branch revamp immediately took place. In came Aaqib Javed as the Qalandars director, returning home after serving as UAE coach for four years.
Aaqib then staged a talent hunt that reportedly attracted over 100,000 hopefuls. His biggest find might have been the most obvious one, though, as he recruited Brendon McCullum to be his captain.
Key man: Brendon McCullum
Amid the chaos of the trophy unveiling earlier this week, when microphones failed, supporters ambushed the press conference wanting selfies, and the bowels of the Dubai International Stadium were generally bedlam, McCullum was effortlessly cool. We are lucky to have him here.
Young star: Zafar Gohar
Qalandars’ leading wicket-taker last season, despite not playing all the matches. The left-arm spinner, who turned 22 on February 1, will hope to use the PSL as a route back into international contention, having not played for Pakistan since his debut in Sharjah in 2015.
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