Islamabad United – contenders for third PSL title

Islamabad United is owned by Leonine Global Investments’ sports entity, Leonine Global Sports. They bought the franchise for a whopping amount of $15 Million for the 10-year period.

United went on to become the champions in the inaugural edition of the tournament by defeating Quetta Gladiators in the final under Misbah-ul-Haq’s captaincy.

Meanwhile, the franchise won their second title of the PSL in 2018 after defeating Peshawar Zalmi in the final by three wickets at the National Stadium in Karachi.

The Men-in-Red are currently the most successful franchise in the Pakistan Super League’s (PSL) history with two titles to their name.

South Africa’s Johan Botha is the head coach for the two-time champions for the upcoming edition, while Pakistan’s former mystery spinner Saeed Ajmal is the assistant coach and Jamaican-born Donovan Miller is the pace bowling coach.

Past performance

The start of the inaugural season was not great for Islamabad United as they won four out of the first eight matches.

However, by finishing on the third spot in the group stage, they qualified for the knock out round of the tournament.

They defeated Karachi Kings by nine wickets and Peshawar Zalmi by 50 runs in the eliminator and the qualifier, respectively, to reach the final.

They thrashed the then favourites Quetta Gladiators on the big stage by six wickets while chasing 175 runs to lift the title.

In the second season of the league, the reigning champions were jolted by the spot-fixing allegations on three of their players. Star performers Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif were suspended immediately whereas left-arm pacer Mohammad Irfan was given a benefit of the doubt.

However, the calmness of Misbah once again came in handy and he managed to settle down the situation. As a result, they reached the playoffs for the second successive season.

Just like the first edition, United faced the Kings in the eliminator where they were to chase a low target of 127 runs in their quota of 20 overs.

However, the opponent bowlers outperformed the United batters with Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim and Usama Mir each picking three wickets and they were bundled up for merely 82 runs.

The Men-in-Red entered the third edition of the league with determination to regain their lost glory. They played exceptional cricket throughout the tournament, despite missing their captain. They went on to play the final of the league where they were captained by South Africa’s JP Duminy and defeated Zalmi to claim their second title.

The Yellow Storm won the toss and elected to bat first. Shadab Khan bowled a magical spell in the game and took three wickets to restrict Zalmi to 148 runs.

They successfully chased the target in 16.5 overs with three wickets in hand and became the champions of the tournament once again.

In the fourth edition of the league, Islamabad United seemed strong enough on paper to defend their title and looked in top nick. It looked possible that the Islamabad-based franchise might lift the trophy for the third time.

However, they could win only six out of the 12 matches that they played and ended up their campaign at the third spot on the table.

Just ahead of the fifth edition, the then Head Coach and Chief Selector of Pakistan Men’s national team Misbah-ul-Haq replaced Dean Jones as the head coach of the franchise and Shadab Khan was named as the captain of the side.

Shadab-led side won three of its ten fixtures and were eliminated from the group stage for the first and till now the only time.

In the last edition of PSL, the Men-in-Red were impressive once again and made it to the playoffs after finishing at the top of the table. While doing so, they also registered the most number of points (16) out of the possible 20 by any team in the PSL history during the first stage.

However, that is where things went south and they eventually ended up losing against first Multan Sultans in the Qualifier and later against Peshawar Zalmi in the second Eliminator.

In total, United are still the most successful side in the history of the PSL with a win percentage of nearly 57% after winning 37 out of 65 matches.

Their best performances over the course of last six seasons came against Lahore Qalandars where they won nine out of 12 meetings with just three defeats.

Former New Zealand’s wicketkeeper-batter Luke Ronchi remains the highest run-getter for United in the history of PSL with 1,020 runs to his name at an average of 36.42 along with the strike-rate of 166.12, which included 10 half-centuries.

Former South Africa’s left-handed batter Colin Ingram and left-hander Sharjeel Khan hold the record for the highest individual score by any United batter in the history of PSL. Both scored 117 against Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi.

Right-arm pacer Faheem Ashraf has the most number of wickets for United in the PSL with 55 scalps to his name 39 innings. He is closely followed by franchise captain Shadab Khan (46) and former Pakistan fast-bowler Mohammad Sami (42).

Faheem also has the best figures by any United bowler in the PSL as he claimed six wickets and just gave away 19 runs in the match against Qalandars in 2019.

Strengths

Islamabad United has depth in their batting lineup with the multiple multi-dimensional players in their squad. They have capable all-rounders in the lineup including captain Shadab, Lewis Gregory, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Waseem and Paul Stirling.

Meanwhile, batters like New Zealand’s Colin Munro, England’s Alex Hales, England’s Phil Salt, Asif Ali and young Azam Khan will provide the side with the much-needed firepower.

Their fast bowling is even more beefed up this season with the inclusion of Marchant De Lange and young pacer Athar Mahmood. Their spinning department already looked quite set with the likes of Shadab, Zafar Gohar and Stirling.

The skipper Shadab along with Faheem will provide the team with the much-needed balance as they both can perform with the bat as well as with the ball.

The two-time champions will go into the seventh edition confidently, having selected a more balanced and experienced squad.

Weaknesses

On paper, the squad looks solid and there is hardly any weak link. However, Islamabad United can face some issues while going for big shots in the latter part of the inning.

United have Azam, Asif and Faheem who are not the most consistent ones with the bat. Moreover, Islamabad United must have not forgotten their disastrous run in PSL 2020 under the leadership of Shadab.

For sure, the leg-spinner must have learned from his mistakes during the span and he might be able to lead the side better this time, but there might be a fear at the back of his and the management’s mind.

Players to watch out

Hasan Ali

After a long absence from competitive cricket and a disappointing T20 World Cup, Hasan Ali managed to bounce back in the series against Bangladesh.

He is a player who shows a lot of fight and he does his best when he hits the rock bottom. The fast bowler’s performance in T20 World Cup and his dropped catch is still fresh in the minds of fans; therefore, he might look for redemption during the campaign.

Hasan Ali has played 138 T20s so far and has hunted as many as 181 batters with an economy rate of 7.68. His wickets tally includes six four-wicket hauls, which says a lot about what kind of a performer he is.

Alex Hales

England’s batter Alex Hales can cause absolute carnage at the top of the order. He has proven his worth all around the world, including in the PSL. Hales has scored 9,107 runs at an average of 30.66 in 326 games with a strike rate of 146.10.

He along with Stirling can rip any bowling attack apart. The right-handed batter has scored 540 runs at a strike rate of 143.61 in just 19 matches. He is going to be another player to look for United in the upcoming edition of PSL.

Faheem Ashraf

Faheem Ashraf is the all-time leading wicket-taker for Islamabad. The right-arm pacer has taken 55 wickets in 39 matches at a decent economy rate of 7.84.

He has also scored 367 runs at a strike rate of 137.96, which is a reflection of his ability to play some crucial cameos lower down the order.

Moreover, his overall career figures are also impressive. He has played 133 matches, where he has dismissed 137 batters at an economy rate of 8.15. On the other hand, he has scored 989 runs with a strike rate of 136.98.

Prediction

Islamabad United have been one of the most consistent teams in the PSL. They are habitual of winning crunch games in the tournament and making it to at least playoffs.

United look to be well-equipped to go far in the tournament. If they are able to click at the right moment, there is no reason why they cannot win the PSL title for the third time.

Schedule

United will play Peshawar Zalmi in their first match of the PSL 7 on January 30 at the National Stadium Karachi.

Their last group stage match will be against Multan Sultans on February 20 at the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore.

Squad:

Shadab Khan (captain), Asif Ali, Hasan Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Alex Hales, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Azam Khan, Paul Stirling, Colin Munro, Marchant de Lange, Muhammad Akhlaq, Reece Topley, Danish Aziz, Zafar Gohar, Mubasir Khan, M. Zeeshan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ather Mehmood

Supplementary draft: Musa Khan, Zahir Khan

Partial replacement: Mohammad Huraira

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