Probable XI –
Lahore Qalandars –
Fakhar Zaman, Sohail Akhtar (c), Callum Ferguson, Mohammad Hafeez, Ben Dunk (wk), James Faulkner, Agha Salman, Rashid Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Ahmed Daniyal, Haris Rauf
Islamabad United –
Usman Khawaja, Colin Munro, Rohail Nazir (wk), Brandon King / Ali Khan, Shadab Khan (c), Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Iftikhar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Fawad Ahmed
Small League Combination 1 –
1. Rohail Nazir
2. Colin Munro
3. Fakhar Zaman
4. Sohail Akhtar
5. Mohammad Hafeez(VC)
6. Shadab Khan(C)
7. Faheem Ashraf
8. James Faulkner
9. Shaheen Afridi
10. Hasan Ali
11. Haris Rauf
– Shadab might be a good captain choice considering his three down batting and average of 23 and 18 with bat & ball respectively in H2H games.
– Hafeez looks safest VC considering his consistent performance with both bat and ball at venue & H2H games.
– Sohail Akhtar might be a good credit saver pick as he has averaged 51 and 25 at venue & H2H matches respectively in more than 5 innings.
– Going heavy on Pacers since pitch at Abu Dhabi is expected to go in their favour.
– Expecting at least a couple of wickets from death over specialist faulkner especially while bowling first at this pace favoured surface.
– Dropped Rashid as he’s available in higher credits and might went wicketless at this surface.
Small League Combination 2 –
1. Ben Dunk
2. Colin Munro(C)
3. Asif Ali
4. Sohail Akhtar(VC)
5. Mohammad Hafeez
6. Shadab Khan
7. Faheem Ashraf
8. Agha Salman
9. Rashid Khan
10. Hasan Ali
11. Shaheen Afridi
– Taking punt on Munro and Sohail as C/VC considering their impressive venue & H2H numbers.
– Dropped Fakhar as he might depart early considering his continuous failures in the last 4 innings at this venue.
– Asif Ali might be a good credit saver punt as he has already scored 156 runs at an average of 31 in 8 H2H innings.
– Expecting some decent fantasy points from Agha Salman as he’s expected to bat at 4-5 down & bowl a couple of overs too.
– Going safe with Rashid in this combination as he can score some quick runs at down the order with the bat & bowl full four overs.
Grand League Combination –
1. Ben Dunk
2. Callum Ferguson
3. Usman Khawaja
4. Iftikhar Ahmed
5. Sohail Akhtar
6. Faheem Ashraf(C)
7. Shadab Khan
8. James Faulkner(VC)
9. Shaheen Afridi
10. Hasan Ali
11. Rashid Khan
– Faheem might be the best captain pick in GL considering his 14 wickets in 5 H2H innings at a strike rate of just 7.
– Faulkner will be a wide VC choice in Gl as he can score some decent runs by batting at middle order and bowl full four overs too.
– Usman Khawaja and Ferguson might be good GL picks considering their good forms during BBL.
– Iftikhar Ahmed might be a crucial pick if top order of Islamabad doesn’t do well.
– Shaheen and Hasan Ali are must picks in both SL & GL as they have been consistent at both venue and H2H matches.