Gaps remain in the Lahore Qalandar squad post replacement draft

If there has been one problem with Lahore Qalandar’s squad, it’s been the fragile nature of their middle order. While Umer Akmal had a stellar PSL 1, there were not many to support him. Jason Roy, Brendon Mccullum, Fakhar Zaman, Umer Akmal, make for a fearsome top 4. You can add Delport to the mix (when Roy went for international duty). But what comes later hasn’t been solid enough. Sunil Narine chipped in but he cannot be backed to score consistently. They will face the same issue this year as well. Chris Lynn, the big name signing is on board.

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They perhaps wanted to Angelo Mathews to fill that gap. However, SLC has refused to give him the NOC. It a disappointing decision but given the injury record of the all-rounder, it is quite understandable. Generally, PSL wickets give a chance to bowlers as well. The definitive example is the game Lahore Qalandars were bundled out for 59. So, there has been a need of an accumulator of sorts.

However, with Mathews out they went with New Zealand’s Anton Devcich. Out of 88 innings he has played in the top 3, 65 times. Seems a peculiar choice to be fair. He provides the same options as Cameron Delport with his spin bowling and top order batting. The other is Denesh Ramdin, in place of the Mustafizur Rahman. Ramdin can play in the middle order but there are definitely better players available. As per the franchise, Ramdin has come in as a back-up keeper to Umer Akmal.

Sohail Akhtar, is one domestic option who is being backed by management of the Qalandar to deliver. It would be huge pressure for a man young in cricketing experience. If teams go hard up to against Lahore and pick up wickets, it would be an uphill task.