Gladiators were the dark horses of the previous tournament where they were massively under-rated and were able to perform really well to reach the finals. They were not able to attain the silverware however as Islamabad which although had an inferior team were lucky enough to deny them the title.
The team has a win percentage of 70% and they have only lost 3 out of the 10 matches they have played so far.
For the upcoming PSL, Quetta management has made a couple of changes and brought in some new players.
The list of players include: Ahmed Shehzad, Luke Wright, KP, Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Carlos Braithwate, Umar Gul, Mir Hamza, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Nabi, Asad Shafiq, Tymal Mills, Zulfiqar Babar, Saad Nasim, Umar Amin, Royman Powell, David Willey, Bismillah Khan, Noor Wali, Hasaan Khan.
The management also changed the assistant coach from Ian Pont to Abdul Razzaq which was dealt in a rather unprofessional manner.
Strength: Batting
Weakness: Bowling, All-rounders, Lack of depth
Key Players: KP, Wright, Sarfraz, Ahmed Shehzad
Could be secret weapons: Carlos Braithwate, Mir Hamza
Analysis:
- This season would be harder for Quetta than the last one mainly because of their poor performance in the auction market where they did not improve on their weak areas.
- Other teams have bought better players and changed their captains too which makes things difficult for Quetta who has made equal to zilch significant changes in their playing squad.
- Squad was however never a strong suit for Quetta as they performed over their weight in the last PSL due to good team management, quality batting and proactive captaincy of Sarfraz Ahmed.
- The team has enough firepower in the likes of KP, AS, Sarfraz, Carlos Braithwate, Luke Wright. The opening pair of Ahmed Shehzad and Luke Wright was the best pair in PSL last year and both batsmen topped the charts when it came to batting.
- Experience of players like KP, Umar Gul brings a lot to the table and it helped Quetta do well in the last season as well.
- Bowling is an extremely weak part of the Quetta line up and could be the main driver behind their down fall in the upcoming PSL. They have a passenger in the shape of Zulfiqar Babar and have young but inexperienced bowlers in Tymal Mills, Mir Hamza. One can only wonder what the Quetta management were thinking while picking the bowlers.
- No depth in the squad. The likes of Asad Shafiq, Nabi are poor selections.
Conclusion:
Quetta due to yet another poor auction window has turned up with a poor squad. They were better in the previous PSL due to sheer will power and because of the failures of other teams that were playing them. This time i am afraid this probably wont be the case for Quetta. Obviously the Gladiators's fans would hope that the team punches above its weight similar to last time around. All in all, Quetta are once again the dark horses of the tournament and it is for everyone to see that if they go above their expectations.
PSL Team Preview: Quetta Gladiators
Discussion in 'Cricket Talk' started by Alchemy, Jan 21, 2017.
PSL Team Preview: Quetta Gladiators
Discussion in 'Cricket Talk' started by Alchemy, Jan 21, 2017.
Tags:
Comments
Discussion in 'Cricket Talk' started by Alchemy, Jan 21, 2017.