Islamabad United will face Lahore Qalandars in the opening game of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) today. The match will be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi as Pakistan’s top stars will be in action. Here’s the pitch report of the venue:
The 10th edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) is set to commence today with the match between defending champions Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars in Rawalpindi. For the first time, PSL is directly clashing with the Indian Premier League (IPL), but it has given them clarity in terms of overseas players’ availability. Moreover, the tournament isn’t clashing with any other T20 league, which was the case earlier when the tournament was played in the February-March window.
Shadab Khan is back as captain of Islamabad United, and top players like Matthew Short, Rassie van der Dussen, Colin Munro, Salman Agha, and Jason Holder will play under him this time around.
As for the Lahore Qalandars, they will be led by Shaheen Afridi, who will have the likes of Daryl Mitchell, Fakhar Zaman, Sam Billings and Haris Rauf up his sleeve.
Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium – Pitch Report
Rawalpindi was slated to host around three matches in the Champions Trophy but two matches at the venue were washed out due to rain. Hence, the pitch is mostly unused at the venue and it will be fresh as well as this is the start of the season. The venue hosted seven matches in PSL 2024 and four of them were won by teams batting first. 228 was the highest score posted batting first in Rawalpindi last season and even that score was chased down by Islamabad United.
Rawalpindi – T20 Numbers Game (PSL 2024)
Matches Played – 7
Matches won batting first – 4
Matches won bowling first – 3
Average 1st inns score – 179
Highest score batting first – 228 by Multan Sultans vs Islamabad United
Highest score successfully chased – 229 by Islamabad United vs Multan Sultans
Squads
Islamabad United Squad: Colin Munro, Haider Ali, Rassie van der Dussen, Salman Agha, Azam Khan(w), Imad Wasim, Jason Holder, Shadab Khan(c), Naseem Shah, Riley Meredith, Rumman Raees, Andries Gous, Salman Irshad, Saad Masood, Hunain Shah, Ben Dwarshuis, Matthew Short, Mohammad Nawaz
Lahore Qalandars Squad: Fakhar Zaman, Kusal Perera, Daryl Mitchell, Sam Billings, Asif Ali, Mohammad Naeem, Muhammad Akhlaq(w), Shaheen Afridi(c), Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan, Momin Qamar, David Wiese, Sikandar Raza, Tom Curran, Abdullah Shafique, Rishad Hossain, Salman Mirza, Asif Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Azab
