Five key takeaways from cricket’s Pakistan Super League 2024

From Babar’s and Rizwan’s scoring sprees to smoking up the dressing room, here are some key storylines from PSL 9.

The Pakistan Super League’s (PSL’s) ninth season ended with Islamabad United winning a record third title, Multan Sultans losing their third final in a row and the result being decided on the last ball of the tournament.

On the field, there was plenty of action: 205 sixes and 476 fours, the 200-run mark was crossed 10 times and four unbeaten centuries were scored.

Here are five talking points from the recently concluded T20 tournament in Pakistan:

The PSL once touted itself as the second biggest T20 league in the world after the Indian Premier League (IPL). The likes of Shane Watson, Colin Ingram, Darren Sammy, Kevin Pietersen and Chris Gayle were once part of the league.

In the 2024 event, PSL organizers scheduled the league to overlap with two other competitions playing at the same time, and the PSL final was played just four days before the IPL tournament gets under way.

That, coupled with more money on offer elsewhere as well as restrictions on international player movements by their own governing associations, all added up to the league attracting lesser stars to the event than in the past.

Saim Ayub had already made his Pakistan international cricket debut, but judging by his performance in the PSL, he is surely ready to add to his solitary Test and 12 T20 international appearances.

The left-hander was declared tournament all-rounder after scoring 345 runs at a scintillating strike rate of 158 and picking up eight wickets with his off-spin, which sometimes included opening the bowling.

Ayub’s timing, no-look flicks, energy in the field and aggression up the top order could play a key role in