Bowler-friendly PSL a welcome relief in six-infested world of T20 leagues

Ajit Vijaykumar 20:11 03/03/2018
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  • The Pakistan Super League is a unique cricket product. The tournament is split across the UAE and Pakistan and is at the forefront of the latter’s attempt to bring meaningful international cricket back in the country.

    On the cricket field, another aspect separates PSL from other premier T20 leagues in the world. And that’s team scores, or more specifically low totals.

    T20 cricket is synonymous with big hitting, massive sixes and whirlwind knocks where bowlers pretty much wander around as glorified bowling machines.

    In last year’s Indian Premier League, by far the most prominent T20 league in the world, teams reached or crossed 180 on 32 occasions out of 60 matches. In the Big Bash League this season, the total of 180 was reached or crossed 17 times in 43 matches.

    The T20 blast in England had a staggering 26 scores of 200 or more this season. The Bangladesh Premier League had 14 instances of team totals crossing 180. The Caribbean Premier League is the only other exception, with four totals more than 180 in 2017.

  • Watch Lahore Qalandars pace sensation Salman Irshad pick a wicket off his first ball in PSL

  • In two seasons and a bit in the PSL, 180 has been crossed 10 times. That’s 10 times in more than 60 matches across three seasons. IPL and BBL cross this mark halfway through a single season.

    There are two distinct reasons for such numbers. Firstly, the wickets in this time of the year in the UAE are not the flattest to bat on. Intermittent rain and sluggish surfaces in Sharjah and sometimes in Dubai during the beginning of the year result in bowlers, be it fast bowlers or spinners, having a greater say in proceedings than bowlers in, say, Bangalore or Brisbane.

    Also, Pakistan’s core strength remains bowling – pace bowling in particular – and that means most teams have a greater pool of homegrown quality bowlers than hard-hitting all-rounders or attacking openers.

    This season in the PSL, no team has reached 180 so far. The match between Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars in Sharjah on Friday is a case in point, with Islamabad beating Lahore in a Super Over after stopping the Qalandars from overhauling their total of 121.

    When you look at major T20 leagues across the world, the six-hitting spectacle becomes a bit stale after one point. Fifties and even some centuries, in the case of IPL, are forgotten as there are just so many of them. But every batsman who crosses 50 in the PSL knows he has earned every bit of it on tricky wickets against world class bowling.

    Just ask Kiwi batting stalwart Brendon McCullum. ‘Baz’ averaged 13.2 in the PSL last season and dragged his season average to 27 this year after a hard-fought 34 in the Super Over match against Islamabad.

    And that is what sets PSL apart from the rest of the pack. In a world intent on devouring every last bit of confidence in bowlers by sending them to the abattoir of Twenty20, PSL is a safe haven for those who make their living hurling a cricket ball.

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