Sarfaraz Ahmed’s Quetta Gladiators and Babar Azam’s Peshawar Zalmi will face each other in the first exhibition match of Pakistan’s premium cricket league Pakistan Super League (PSL) in Quetta.
The match between the two teams will be played today at the Bugti Stadium in Quetta.
All the preparations for the game have been completed and the players and officials of both the teams have reached the provincial capital. PCB officials said that more than 13,000 tickets have been sold for the exhibition match.
Tight security arrangements have been made at the stadium and surrounding areas, with over 4,000 police and Frontier Corps personnel guarding the premises.
Former star cricketers Shahid Afridi, Javed Miandad and Moin Khan have also reached Quetta to watch the exhibition match while many showbiz stars including Ayub Khosa and Ahad Raza Mir will also watch the game in the stadium.
According to the district administration, there will be a complete ban on the use of drone cameras in and around the stadium, while cricket fans will not be allowed to bring any flag other than the Pakistani flag into the stadium to watch the match.
It should be noted that according to the schedule, PSL 8 will start from February 13, while the final will be played on March 19 in Lahore.
The matches will be played from February 13 to March 19 in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi.
The most matches in this edition are going to be played in Rawalpindi where 11 matches will be played. Karachi and Lahore will have nine matches each while Multan will host five matches.
Among the 21 international cricketers participating in the PSL for the first time in this edition are Adil Rashid, Aqeel Hussain, Izharul Haq Naveed, Josh Little for Multan Sultans. Andrew Tye, James Fuller, Matthew Wade, Tabriz Shamsi for Karachi Kings; Bhanuka Rajapakse, Jimmy Neesham, Richard Gleeson for Peshawar Zalmi; Dwayne Pretorius, Naveen-ul-Haq, Nuwan Thishara, Odin Smith, Venindu Hasringa Quetta Gladiators; Kosal Mendes and Shane Dadeswell for Lahore Qalandars. Fazlul Haq Farooqui, Gus Atkinson, Tom Curran for Islamabad United.
Apart from the foreigners, local players looking to make a big impression in their debut event are: Aamir Jamal (Peshawar Zalmi), Ahsan Bhatti (Lahore Qalandars), Amil Khan (Quetta Gladiators), Arafat Minhas (Multan Sultans), Haseebullah (Peshawar Zalmi), Hasan Nawaz (Islamabad United), Irfan Khan Niazi (Karachi Kings), Mirza Tahir Baig (Lahore Qalandars), Mohammad ‘Colonel’ Zahid (Quetta Gladiators), Mohammad Sarwar Afridi (Multan Sultans), Umeer Bin Yousuf (Quetta Gladiators), Saud Shakeel (Quetta Gladiators), Chavez Irfan (Lahore Qalandars), Sufyan Muqim (Peshawar Zalmi) and Tayyab Tahir (Karachi Kings).
In PSL 8, Lahore Qalandars are aiming to become the first team to win back-to-back titles while Islamabad United will be aiming to become the first team to win three titles since the event started in 2016.
In seven years of PSL, Babar Azam is the highest run-scorer with 2,413 runs in 68 matches but is yet to score his maiden century. Kamran Akmal, who will not be participating in the event, is second with 1,972 runs from 75 and is the player with the most centuries. Explosive opener Sharjeel Khan has scored two centuries while Fakhar Zaman, Riley Russo, Cameron Delport, Colin Ingram, Chris Lane, Usman Khawaja, Harry Brook and Jason Roy have scored one century each.
