Sultans depend on batting firepower to defend PSL crown

Sultans depend on batting firepower to defend PSL crown

Synopsis

Mohammad Rizwan-led side defeated Peshawar Zalmi by 47 runs to win title for the first time in June 2021

Sultans depend on batting firepower to defend PSL crown

Image: File Photo

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Multan Sultan became the sixth franchise of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and joined the competition in the 2018 edition. The franchise is the only one to have different owners thus far. It was first bought by Schon properties after winning the bid for an eight-year contract.

However, the PCB in 2018, announced that the agreement was terminated because the franchise failed to pay the annual fee required by the board. It was later resold to a Consortium, led by Alamgir Khan Tareen and Ali Khan Tareen in 2019. Two years later, the former became the sole owner of the franchise.

 

Past performances

Multan Sultans are the defending champions of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) but their performances in the first two seasons were not that satisfactory by any standards.

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In their debut campaign in 2018, the team was led by veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik and they finished on the 5th position on the points table after winning four matches out of 10. Those numbers do not tell the complete story as Sultans were well on their way to the playoffs but lost four consecutive matches to crash out of the competition.

Johan Botha, who was the assistant coach in the debut season, was made the head coach replacing Tom Moody in the next campaign but that did not change much in terms of the results on the field as the side once again finished on the fifth position. In fact, their results were even worse where they finished with just six points after 10 matches.

Left-handed opening batter Shan Masood was named the captain of the team in the following season and he was joined by former Zimbabwe’s wicketkeeper-batter Andy Flower as the team’s coach ahead.

Sultan’s had a much better outing in the 2020 campaign where they were by far the best team in the first stage and finished on top of the points table with 14 points. However, the tournament was halted midway through because of the Covid-19 outbreak worldwide which led to countries suspending flights.

That break did not help Sultans as when the tournament resumed for the playoffs, the side lost first against Karachi Kings and then against Lahore Qalandars to eventually crash out of the tournament.

Despite having a more than a decent tournament in 2020, Sultans made a surprising change as they appointed newly-signed wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan as the captain of the team in place of Masood.

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That decision first looked an incorrect one as the side were languishing outside the top-four but this time a Covid-19 outbreak helped the team in breaking their losing streak.

When the tournament resumed in June 2020, Sultans were just unplayable in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and were the eventual winners after beating Peshawar Zalmi by 47 runs in the final in Abu Dhabi.

In total, Multan Sultans have played 44 matches in the history of PSL where they’ve managed to win 20 times whereas they suffered 22 defeats and two matches ended without a result.

Right-handed batter Sohaib Maqsood, who was also named the player of the tournament in PSL 2021, is the franchise’s highest run-getter in the history of the competition with 632 runs at an average of 39.50 along with the strike-rate of 145.95, which included six half-centuries. He is followed by former captain Shan Masood (604), James Vince (560) and current captain Rizwan (500).

Left-hander Rilee Rossouw is the only Sultans player to score a century in PSL. He has the highest individual score by a Sultans batter of 100 not out which he registered against Quetta Gladiators.

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Veteran leg-spinner Imran Tahir is the leading wicket-taker for the franchise in the PSL with 37 scalps to his name at an outstanding average of 17.40 and economy-rate of 7.18. He is being followed by left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir (26) and young Shahnawaz Dahani (20).

Sultans have only managed to post in excess of 200 twice—once against Peshawar Zalmi and the other time against Lahore Qalandars—and both of those matches were played in the UAE.

Their highest total while playing in Pakistan is 199 for the loss of five wickets which they managed to post against Gladiators in Multan.

 

Strengths

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Multan Sultans strength in the upcoming edition of the PSL will be their blistering batting lineup which is surely strengthened compared to the previous campaign. The addition of Tim David, who was extremely impressive for Lahore Qalandars in the PSL 2021 UAE-leg and recently for Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League (BBL) 2021-22, might prove to be one of the best signings of the competition. The 25-year-old will be perfect for a batting lineup like Sultans where he alongside Khushdil Shah and all-rounder Anwar Ali would comprise a more than decent middle and lower middle-order to finish the innings on a high. The top-order also looks solid in the presence of in-form captain Mohammad Rizwan, ever-dependable Masood, more than capable Rilee Rossouw and last edition’s best player Sohaib Maqsood.  Another strength for Sultans is likely to be their spin attack where the presence of two seasoned campaigners like Imran Tahir and Asif Afridi would make it hard for the oppositions to score freely in the middle overs.

 

Weaknesses

Multan Sultans weakness this season might prove to be their overall bowling department where there will be too much reliance on veteran campaigners. Even though the likes of Imran Khan Snr, Anwar Ali, Rumman Raees, Blessing Muzarabani, Asif Afridi and Imran Tahir have tons of experience of playing in the shortest format, at a batting paradise-like the National Stadium Karachi and Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore might prove to be a little too difficult for them to restrict the oppositions. Also, Sultans are one of the weakest in the fielding department, once again in the presence of so many veterans which might cost them come to the business end of the campaign. It is not easy to hide a single loophole in a fast-paced T20 format but Sultans have players in abundance with the likes of Sohaib Maqsood, Raees, Imran Khan, Imran Tahir and Asif few of the noticeable once who are not that great in the field.

 

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Players to watch out

Abbas Afridi

Abbas Afridi represented Karachi Kings in the sixth edition of PSL and can prove to be a handy pick for Multan Sultans with both bat and ball. The 20-year-old bowled an impressive spell of 2-27 in his quota of four overs on his PSL debut last season. During the same match, he played an innings of 27 runs off just 18 balls which included three maximums. The youngster played for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 2nd XI in the ongoing domestic season and had some good performances, while he also toured Sri Lanka with Pakistan Shaheens and claimed figures of 4-30 in an excellent 10-over spell in an unofficial ODI. The Fata-born till now has only played four matches in the shortest format of the game where he has managed to claim as many wickets.

 

Aamer Azmat

Another player to watch out for from the Multan Sultans contingent is young top-order batter Aamer Azmat. The 23-year-old is famous for his attacking display at the beginning of the innings and the defending champions will have high hopes from him in the upcoming edition of the PSL. In the ongoing domestic season, Aamer, who is representing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 2nd XI, scored a brilliant 168 off just 125 in the One-Day match against Balochistan 2nd XI, that too while chasing a stiff target 286 and helped his team in securing a comfortable win which was a testament to his talent. He has till now played just three T20s in his career where he has managed to score 28 runs at an average of 9.33.

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Ihsanullah

Ihsanullah is another interesting pick from the Multan Sultans squad to watch out for. The tall pacer is a supplementary pick but he is believed to be pretty pacey and is rumoured to be bowling at 145kph. He has also played for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 2nd XI team. The Sultans drafted him after recommendations from KP coach Abdul Rehman and former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif.

 

Prediction

Multan Sultans will enter the competition as defending champions but many might argue that they were not the best team in the previous edition and the change of conditions midway through the tournament helped them significantly in achieving what they eventually did.

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This year, since the whole of PSL is expected to be played in conditions more suited for batting and high scores, Sultans have picked a squad that might struggle to cope with challenging circumstances. Therefore, the prediction is for the defending champions to miss out on a place in the last four.

Fixtures

Multan Sultans will play their first match against hosts Karachi Kings on the opening day of the competition at the National Stadium whereas their first round’s final fixture will be against Islamabad United to be played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on February 20.

OppositionVenueDate
Karachi KingsNational Stadium, KarachiJan 27, 2022 (N)
Lahore QalandarsNational Stadium, KarachiJan 29, 2022 (D/N)
Quetta GladiatorsNational Stadium, KarachiJan 31, 2022 (N)
Islamabad UnitedNational Stadium, KarachiFeb 1, 2022 (N)
Peshawar ZalmiNational Stadium, KarachiFeb 5, 2022 (N)
Peshawar ZalmiGaddafi Stadium, LahoreFeb 10, 2022 (N)
Lahore QalandarsGaddafi Stadium, LahoreFeb 11, 2022 (N)
Karachi KingsGaddafi Stadium, LahoreFeb 16, 2022 (N)
Quetta GladiatorsGaddafi Stadium, LahoreFeb 18, 2022 (D/N)
Islamabad UnitedGaddafi Stadium, LahoreFeb 20, 2022 (N)

 

Squad:

Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Rilee Rossouw, Sohaib Maqsood, Imran Tahir, Shan Masood, Khushdil Shah, Shahnawaz Dhani, Tim David, Odean Smith, Rumman Raees, Asif Afridi, Anwar Ali, Rovman Powell, Imran Khan Sr., Abbas Afridi, Amir Azmat, Blessing Muzarabani, Ihsanullah

Supplementary round: David Willey, Rizwan Hussain

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Partial replacements: Johnson Charles, Dominic Drakes

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