Image Credit- PCB
Once more, we find
ourselves on the most important day in Pakistani cricket history. Actually,
this year has seen very little more than a flicker in a league that once shone
with potential. The PSL has been moved around, wedged between other T20
competitions with more financial clout, but it has managed to hold onto this
tiny window of opportunity in February and March. Even while the attendance and
players may not be as glitzy, this is a real sporting product with fan groups
that have been developed over the better part of a decade. Additionally, they
are not leaving.
Perhaps
surprisingly, Islamabad United and Multan Sultans are playing in their first
PSL final. This is similar to Ajax vs. Barcelona in the PSL in several aspects
– one team that blazed a trail, and another who trailed behind and eventually
passed them. The Sultans established their kingdom based on United’s analytical
and progressive philosophy, and it has been four PSL finals since United last
made it this far.
This year, the
Sultans largely followed the same trend during the group stages, pulling a wide
gap between themselves and the others and securing a final berth at the first
chance. There was little indication that things had improved in the group
stages, despite the fact that United hired Mike Hesson to their coaching team
in an attempt to start over after a disappointing five years that saw them miss
out on the playoffs.
Nevertheless, Shadab
Khan’s team came through when it mattered most, winning their next four games
in a row to advance to the knockout stages. More importantly, though, they
persevered, overcoming a losing playoff record over the previous five years. It
can’t have hurt that in order to survive this run, they had to pull off a
nervous victory over the Sultans.
As a result of both teams working through the drawn-out group stages to iron
out their shortcomings, this game, like all others, will mostly rest on United’s
performance, as they have the biggest performance difference in the competition
between their floor and ceiling.
This year is the
year of a return to the cerebral, if the previous two finals were a triumph of
heart and soul. In the title, it says that the data nerds and the analytics
gurus have saved the league. Of course, that would be undervaluing the efforts
that Sultans and United made between the draft and the championship. Sultans
have Abdul Rehman and Muhammad Rizwan, two of the nation’s smartest white-ball
coaches and captains, whereas United chose Hesson, a former Dean Jones
assistant. They’ve made it clear that using Cricviz to help them comprehend
data more rigorously and analytically has contributed to some of their success.
Few can call the
final based on how little there is to choose between these two sides at their
best. But all can certainly enjoy it.