AB de Villiers named captain of Team of HBL PSL 2019

KARACHI: AB de Villiers of Lahore Qalandars was named as captain of Team of HBL PSL 2019, which was selected by an independent panel comprising Mudassar Nazar, Ramiz Raja and Danny Morrison, who have collectively played 181 Tests and 416 ODIs.

De Villiers displayed his talent and prowess in seven matches, in which he aggregated 218 runs at a stunning average of 54.5 with an incredible strike-rate of 129.

De Villiers has been named captain of the side, which, as per the event regulations, includes four foreign players in the playing line-up, and comprises the best performers of the HBL PSL 2019 keeping in mind a winning combination that was capable of defeating any franchise side in any given conditions.

Mudassar Nazar, who led the selection panel, said: “It has been a gigantic task to select a team comprising 12 players from a world-class event that produced a high number of quality individual performances.

“We as the panel members decided to select players who can form a combination that was capable of defeating any franchise side in the world in any given conditions. I don’t think anyone will disagree that this is the best winning combination from the large pool of top performing players.”

Apart from de Villiers, the line-up includes four players from Peshawar Zalmi (Kamran Akmal, Kieron Pollard, Hasan Ali and Wahab Riaz), three players from Karachi Kings (Babar Azam, Colin Ingram and Umer Khan), two players from Islamabad United (Asif Ali and Faheem Ashraf) and a player from Quetta Gladiators (Shane Watson).

De Villiers’ Qalandars’ team-mate Sandeep Lamichhane has been chosen as the 12th player.

Team of HBL PSL 2019 in batting order:

1-    Shane Watson* (Quetta Gladiators) {430 runs, avge. 43, strike-rate 143.8}

2-    Kamran Akmal (wicket-keeper) (Peshawar Zalmi) {357 runs, avge. 27.4, strike-rate 137.8, 9 dismissals}

3-    Babar Azam (Karachi Kings) {335 runs, 30.34 avge, 115.5 strike-rate}

4-    AB de Villiers* (captain) (Lahore Qalandars) {218 runs, 54.5 avge, strike-rate 129}

5-    Colin Ingram* (Karachi Kings) {344 runs, 34.40 avge, 164.5 strike-rate}

6-    Asif Ali (Islamabad United) {281 runs, 35.12 avge, 182.46 strike-rate}

7-    Kieron Pollard* (Peshawar Zalmi) {284 runs, avge 28.4, strike-rate 173; 5 wickets, 45.8 avge, eco. 7.89}

8-    Faheem Ashraf (Islamabad United) {21 wickets, avge. 15.33, eco. 7.29}

9-    Wahab Riaz (Peshawar Zalmi) {17 wickets, 19.88 avge, eco. 6.78}

10-   Hasan Ali (Peshawar Zalmi) {25 wickets, 13.64 avge, eco. 6.77}

11-   Umer Khan (Karachi Kings) {15 wickets, 16.13 avge, eco.7.11}

12-   Sandeep Lamichhane* (Lahore Qalandars) {11 wickets, 17.18 avge, eco. 7.66}