Five big names who couldn’t perform in PSL 6

By Kaukab Azhar

Season six of Pakistan Super League (PSL) season six concluded with Multan Sultans emerging as champions for the first time in PSL history.

Every side had big names in their ranks. Some performed to their best potential while few were going through a rough patch. Here are the five names who couldn’t perform:

Muhammad Amir

Undoubtedly, the first name on the list is Muhammad Amir. He picked up just five wickets in 11 games with a bowling average of 69.8 and economy rate of 8.37. Karachi Kings persisted with him and that eventually costed them a chance to progress in the knockout stages. A season to forget for Amir and seems highly unlikely that he will get a chance to represent Pakistan anytime soon after this show. He cannot put the blame of his poor performances on Misbah and Waqar this time.

Martin Guptill

Currently ranked at number 9 in the international T20 rankings, Karachi Kings had high hopes from their star overseas player. However, Guptill managed to score only 69 runs in the six matches he played in the second leg of the tournament. The team management decided not to disturb the settled opening pair of Sharjeel and Babar which meant that Guptill had to come one down, a decision that they might regret now. Guptill looked completely out of sorts and failed to get going in the tournament.

Muhammad Nawaz

Nawaz’s lackluster performances went unnoticed but this is the first season in which he had failed to contribute to Quetta Gladiator’s campaign. He managed to pick up only 6 wickets in 9 games and scored 109 runs at an average of 15. After a successful international tour of South Africa and Zimbabwe, Nawaz would have wanted to cement his place in the international side but he failed to put up consistent performances in this year’s PSL.

Shadab Khan

Shadab has been trying to rediscover himself as a cricketer by transforming into a batting all-rounder. However, he failed to perform with the bat which has raised question marks on his automatic selection in the international squad. He promoted himself up the order but only scored 94 runs in 9 innings at an average of just 10. Although he did take 9 wickets in 11 games but he was expensive throughout which was reflected in his economy rate of 8.3. With plenty of spin bowling options for Pakistan (Imad, Nawaz, and Qadir), Shadab needs to improve his overall game and fitness to become an automatic selection in the squad.

Haris Rauf

It’s hard to imagine how Lahore Qalandars failed to qualify for the playoff stage with such a star-studded bowling attack. One of their star players, Haris Rauf, let the team down with inconsistent line and length. Haris averaged 34 runs per wicket but more importantly his economy rate of 9.67 was a major concern for the team as he leaked runs in the death overs. The team management should have dropped him and played Dilbar Hussain. Haris is a regular in the