During the 25th match of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2023 at the Pindi Club Ground in Rawalpindi, Peshawar Zalmi skipper Babar Azam has won the Toss and elected to bat first against the Quetta Gladiators.
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Surprisingly, it was the Gladiators’ spin bowling allrounder Mohammad Nawaz who had trudged towards the pitch alongside Babar to call the Toss, with the regular skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed not part of the playing XI tonight.
The development has meant that this will be the first time in the history of Pakistan Super League that the wicket-keeper batter will miss out on a berth in the playing XI and not leading the Gladiators. Until today, he had played a total of 74 consecutive matches in the league, but had never missed a game.
Umar Akmal will be man for the Gladiators who will keep the wickets tonight, with the side having made three other changes to their playing XI from the previous match as well.
Why is Sarfaraz Ahmed not playing today’s PSL 8 match
As per the Quetta Gladiators’ official Twitter handle, Sarfaraz has been ruled out of the team’s playing XI due to a finger injury. However, the extent of the injury has not been confirmed as yet.
Wishing our Kaptaan a swift recovery who is missing his first-ever PSL match (ever since the league started) due to injury.
Send in your messages to show your support for #ShaanePakistan @SarfarazA_54👇#PurpleForce pic.twitter.com/TdMKGD6VkJ
— Quetta Gladiators (@TeamQuetta) March 8, 2023
It was during his team’s previous match against the Karachi Kings that he had picked up the injury, and had even stated during the post-match interaction that it might well turn out to be a tad serious in nature, and would undergo an X-Ray to confirm the same. However, the scans had ruled out the possibility of a fracture.
“(On his finger injury) Will go to the doctor for an x-ray, not looking that good at the moment,” Sarfaraz had remarked after winning the match against the Kings by 4 wickets last Monday.
It was a pacey delivery bowled by fast bowler Naseem Shah which had hit his left ring finger while keeping the wickets during the match.
Quetta Gladiators all but out of PSL 2023
Playing their penultimate league stage match of PSL 2023 tonight, the Gladiators’ not only need to win both the remaining matches, but hope that Peshawar lose all their remaining three matches as well and then topple them on the Net Run Rate (NRR) count in order to qualify for the playoffs.
