We saw the Indian Premier League 2020 give the audience a number of unforgettable moments and in less than a week since the end of the IPL final, we have yet another T20 league final and this time in the form of the Pakistan Super League 2020 Grand Finale.
The Final will feature two teams which will be playing their first ever finals in the league history- Karachi kings and Lahore Qalandars. The red carpet event will take place at the National Stadium in Karachi and once again a grand event as such will take place behind closed doors due to the ongoing pandemic.
Cricwizz takes a look at the top five reasons why one should watch the finale of the PSL 2020.
1) A new title winner
The league was founded in 2016 and has been played every year since then. The most successful team has been Islamabad United with two titles, won in the year 2016 and 2018. The Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators have won the title once each in the year 2017 and 2019 respectively.
The PSL 2020 now is certain that it will witness a new title winner- one among the Karachi kings and Lahore Qalandars. The two teams have been very difficult to separate on the sheets as they stand 1-1 in head to head.
Who is your pick to lift the Pakistan Super League 2020 title?
2) The tournament being suspended for several months
The league was in full swing in the month of march of this year but had to be suspended due to the outbreak of the virus that put the whole sporting world in distraught. The PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) were in discussion of announcing the winner of the PSL 2020 on the basis of the league standings as the tournament could not be continued.
Though the board decided to resume it once the situation clears up. Said that, the tournament had to stay suspended for a period of over eight months but to the endurance of one, the league kicked off again on a bright note.
If the PCB went ahead with the decision of announcing the winner based on the points table, the Multan Sultans would have crowned the champions. The Multan side though have failed to make it to the finals this time after losing both the Qualifier 1 and Eliminator 2.
3) Highest run- getter vs Highest wicket- taker
What an exciting battle we have in hands as the tournament’s best batsman and bowler come face to face. What is more? The battle will take in the all- important final.
Karachi kings opener Babar Azam has been piling on the runs ever since the start of the tournament and he once again proved why he is one of the best batsman around in the sport by scoring a brillant 65 against the Multan Sultans in the Qualifier 1. The 26- year old has scored 410 runs from the 10 matches played at a strike- rate of 123.49 and is 100 runs ahead of the second best Mohammad Hafeez (Lahore Qalandars) who will also be playing the final.
On the other side the bowling department has been headed by Shaheen Afridi from the very first match and has continued to stay on top of the list with 17 wickets to his name from 11 matches at an economy of 7. He is 5 wickets ahead of his opposition bowlers Dilbar Hussain and David Wiese who have 12 wickets each. For that reason it looks very likely he will end up as the leading wicket- taker this season.
Who do you think will prevail in this epic battle between the opener and Spearhead?
4) Cricket is back in Pakistan
It is to be noted that the number of International matches being played in Pakistan has drastically come down over the years due to various reasons. This is the first time that the PSL is being completely played in Pakistan as opposed to the previous years when the tournament was partially held in UAE and Pakistan. This is definitely a welcome sign for the PCB and Pakistan cricket fans and the league could mark the beginning of a new start for Cricket in Pakistan.
5) A revival for the sport
The lockdown made the entire cricket world come to a stand still and affected the sport on a huge margin. Despite all the obstacles the IPL set the bar by hosting the longest ever IPL and did with the highest level of securities and turned out to be a huge success. Now we have yet another league which is all set to host its final. This is great news for the fans and the sporting World and also makes a statement on the Unity the sport can bring to the World.
Cover Credits: Sportzwiki
