HBL PSL 6 has given us a lot of memories, from Hassan Ali’s humor to Shahnawaz Dahani’s Celebration. We will be discussing those memories along with the statistical overview of PSL 6. It’s been an impressive journey for all of us. A lot of hurdles came but were well managed by PCB in the end.
Appreciation goes to the management and the staff for working days and nights to overcome all the bad aspects that were coming in the way. Also, credit goes to Muhammad Rizwan and company for their brilliant efforts to turn the game after being last in the points table to the champions.
Let’s discuss all the aspects and get to know that how Multan Sultan managed to become HBL PSL 6 champion after having the worst start to their campaign.
Multan Sultans Are PSL 6 Champions
After struggling in the Karachi leg of the tournament Multan Sultans came up with a strong mindset of just thrashing all the teams and qualify for the playoffs. In the league stages, Multan played a total of 10 matches out of which 5 were played in the Karachi leg and the remaining were played in the UAE leg.
Multan Sultans won only 1 match in the Karachi leg of HBL PSL 6. They were at number 5 in the points table followed by Quetta Gladiators at the last. Muhammad Rizwan’s brilliant captaincy, Sohaib Maqsood’s fireworks, Dahani’s celebration, and Imran Khan’s accuracy took Multan Sultans to the playoffs of the PSL.
Multan not only qualified for the playoffs, but they also booked a second spot for them in the points table too. They faced Islamabad United in the Qualifier. Islamabad won a record of 8 games in the league stages but Sultans took them out of the game in no time to qualify for the Final.
In the Final, they faced the most successful team of the PSL history, Peshawar Zalmi. Zalmi was playing their 4th PSL final. Zazai was in hot form but Multan Sultans won the match one-sided again and won the title.
From facing only 1 ball in the whole tournament of HBL PSL 5 to the champion of HBL PSL 6, this was a big turnaround for Muhammad Rizwan. There was a time when no one was willing to take him along with them to playing XI but he proved himself at the big stage.
Most Runs In PSL 6
When we talk of scoring runs in Pakistan cricket then there is only one name that came into mind and that is Babar Azam. Babar Azam scored the most runs in PSL 6. Babar scored 554 runs with an average of 69.24 and a brilliant strike rate of 132.54.
His highest score was 90* and he was also the only one who performed well for Karachi Kings. It was often seen in this year’s PSL that whenever Babar Azam failed to score the whole team suffered a lot. Even when Babar scored in the 80s Karachi didn’t manage a strong target.
Babar Azam was followed by Muhammad Rizwan in the leading run-scorer list with 500 runs in 12 innings but both of these players were not announced as the Player of the tournament or Batsman of the tournament either. Both of these awards were won by Sohaib Maqsood.
Sohaib Maqsood scored 500 runs in his 12 innings for Multan Sultans. He has been a consistent performer for Multan Sultans in HBL PSL 6. Multan’s management promoted Sohaib Maqsood up the order to take responsibility and have some charge in his hands. He performed his duty very well.
Most Wickets In PSL 6
All of us know that Pakistan Super League always brings some great and passionate bowlers. Most of the leading bowlers of team Pakistan are PSL products including Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hassan Ali, Faheem Ashraf, and more. The player with the most wickets in PSL 6 is also a such player.
The man with the most number of wickets in PSL 6 was Shahnawaz Dahani. The young sensational bowler from Larkana took 20 wickets in just 11 games. His bowling average was 17.00 and his economy was 8.42 per over. He has been impressive throughout the event.
Dahani gave crucial breakthroughs to Multan Sultans in plenty of tough situations. He got 2 four-for in PSL 6. His best bowling figures were 4 for 5. One of his four-for was against Lahore Qalandars while the other one was against Peshawar Zalmi.
Shahnawaz Dahani has got pace and accuracy which is his best point. He did not use any extra varieties just like modern bowlers. He relays and his pace and delivers for the team. He has got called in the red ball squad of the Pakistan International team. Discussions are going on to make him a part of the white-ball squad as well.
Most Sixes In PSL 6
A lot of power hitters were a part of PSL 6 including Fakhar Zaman, Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Tim David, Sohaib Maqsood, Sherfane Rutherford, and plenty more. But the man who is on the top of this list for hitting most sixes in PSL 6 is none other than Sharjeel Khan.
Sharjeel Khan hit 23 sixes in 11 matches in this year’s PSL which is the most for this season. He was followed by Sohaib Maqsood with 22 sixes and Sherfane Rutherford with 21 sixes. Sharjeel also scored 338 runs in his 11 innings for Karachi Kings.
He also scored his second PSL century as well. His best in this year’s PSL was 105. His strike rate is been impressive as well. He played this season’s PSL with a brilliant strike rate of 148.24. He is also a part of Pakistan’s T20i squad right now.
Best Wicket Keeper Of PSL 6
The top wicket keepers for each team in this year’s PSL were Ben Dunk, Chadwick Walton, Kamran Akmal, Muhammad Akhlaq, Muhammad Rizwan, and Sarfaraz Ahmed. These wicket keepers represented Lahore Qalandars, Karachi Kings, Peshawar Zalmi, Islamabad United, Multan Sultans, and Quetta Gladiators respectively.
But the man who was announced as the best wicket-keeper of PSL 6 was Muhammad Rizwan for his brilliance behind the stumps. Rizwan dismissed a total of 19 players behind the stumps which were the most for any wicketkeeper. Rizwan didn’t only perform behind the stumps but he was good with the bat too.
Rizwan scored 500 runs in this year’s PSL which is the second most in any season of this tournament. Babar leads the table as mentioned earlier. Rizwan’s batting average was 45.45 and he is been admired for his captaincy skills as well.
Most Catches In PSL 6
On one side there is a competition between players for most runs in PSL and most wickets in PSL while on the other end the competition is there for most catches as well. The player who took the most catches in PSL 6 is Iftikhar Ahmed. He took 9 catches in 12 games.
His catch-per-match ratio was 0.750 which is remarkable. Not only on the field but he also scored with the bat too. His remarkable contribution to the team took Islamabad United to the top of the table with a record of 8 wins on the league stage.
Highest Team Total In PSL 6
A lot of records were broken in this year’s PSL plenty of them were done by Islamabad United. Islamabad scored the most runs in a powerplay of a PSL match. They finished the game in just 10 overs to put a record. Also, they scored the highest team total in PSL 6.
Islamabad scored 247 runs against Peshawar Zalmi. Their run rate in that match was 12.35 in match number 26. Usman Khawaja scored a remarkable century in that match. He also became the first captain to score a century at the PSL as he was playing as a captain in that match replacing Shadab Khan.
The youngest team was at their best in this season as they top the points table with 8 victories. After being too well in the league stages Islamabad didn’t managed to continue the rhythm and lost both of their matches in playoffs and got eliminated.
Closing Words
Pakistan Super League always brings a lot of smiles and happiness along with it. We always get a lot of memories to remember too. We hope next year’s PSL brings some more smiles to us and the whole tournament to be played in Pakistan. Hope that players and all the sports in Pakistan keep growing.
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