March 14: PSL - Karachi Kings v Islamabad United, Karachi

Our XI: Phil Salt*, Mohammad Rizwan*, Babar Azam, Sharjeel Khan, Chadwick Walton, Imad Wasim, Colin Ingram, Shadab Khan, Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Umaid Asif and Chris Jordan.

Captain: Babar Azam

Azam is back in form with an unbeaten 69 and at the top of run-getters list in PSL 2020. He now has 294 runs in the tournament at an average of 58.8 and a strike rate of 130.66. The Kings have won whenever Azam has got 50 or more in the tournament so far.

Vice-captain: Sharjeel Khan

Sharjeel has often been a hit or miss player. But an in-form, high on confidence Sharjeel is hard to ignore. After a few cameos, he finally came good against Lahore Qalanders in the last game, with a blistering 59-ball 74. In this tournament, 76.54% of his runs have come in boundaries, suggesting he is a big hitter. His strike rate in PSL 2020 is 141.28.

Hot Picks

Phil Salt

This highly-rated England batsman showed great promise in the latter half of BBL 2019-20. Salt scored 361 runs in the tournament at a strike rate of 164, including three fifties in his last six innings. In all, he has a fantastic strike rate of 156.53 in the format.

Mohammad Rizwan

Rizwan has an average of 23.52 and a strike rate of 116.27 in the PSL. His record against Islamabad, however, is much better. In four innings, he averages 37 and strikes at 142.3 against them. His only fifty in the PSL has also come against them.

Shadab Khan

Shadab has easily been the best allrounder in this season of the PSL. He has scored 251 runs at an average of 41.83 along with taking six wickets at an economy of 8.44. He has to be in your XI.

Value Picks

Umaid Asif

The tall fast bowler has played five games so far and has picked up as many wickets. Though he has been slightly on the expensive side with an economy of 8.47, he has the knack of picking up wickets. For his price, he could prove to be a value pick.

Colin Ingram

Thanks to the Islamabad top order, Ingram has got only a few opportunities in the tournament. In his limited opportunities, Ingram has scored 192 runs at a strike rate of 157.37. His strike rate is, in fact, the second best in the tournament among all Islamabad batsmen who have faced more than 50 balls. His strike rate at the death in PSL is 208.69, second best among all batsmen with 150 or more runs at the death.

Points to note

If Karachi bat second, replace Walton with Asif Ali as most of their chases have been quite comfortable.
If Jordan is unavailable, pick Mohammad Amir in his place.

* This story was published before news broke of Luke Ronchi and Colin Munro's unavailability. Both players are returning home in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. We have replaced them with Phil Salt and Mohammad Rizwan