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The Quetta Gladiators have officially announced the names of foreign players that will be filling in for the much-anticipated Pakistan Super league (PSL) final against Peshawar Zalmi.
According to the team’s media manager, these players include Anamul Haque from Bangladesh, Sean Ervine and Elton Chigumbura from Zimbabwe, Morne Van Wik from South Africa and Rayad Emerit from West Indies.
Additionally, Aizaz Cheema from Pakistan has been added to the Quetta Gladiators squad to replace Umar Gul.
The Gladiators' Sarfaraz Ahmad, Asad Shafeeq, Hassaan Khan, Noor Ali and Mir Hamza have already reached Lahore.
"All eyes are on the new young players for tomorrow's final. The country wants to see our young talent shine," Sarfaraz Ahmad, who captains the team, told DawnNews during their Saturday practice session.
The final match-up between Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi is scheduled to be played at the Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday, March 5.
The Gladiators had qualified for the final after handing a solid defeat to Zalmi during the first playoff of the PSL's knockout stage.
In that match, the team’s squad had consisted of England’s Luke Wright, Kevin Peterson and Tymal Mills.
After qualifying, all three had announced on Thursday that they will not be playing the final in Lahore.
“It's with a heavy heart I will not be coming to Lahore. I have a young family, and for me, a game of cricket is just not worth the risk,” Luke Wright said in a tweet.
Kevin Peterson announced on Twitter that he’s going back to London to spend time with his family.
Tymal Mills said that while he will not be taking part in the final, he will be following the game from home.
South Africa's Rilee Roussouw, who had at one point considered going to Lahore for the final, later said he would not be coming. "It's with a sad heart that I must announce that I will not be taking part in the final," he had written in a Twitter post.
Read more: Peshawar Zalmi thrash Karachi Kings, qualify for Lahore final
Read more
On DawnNews
Comments (51) Closed
Mar 04, 2017 05:42pm
Who are those foreign players. Never heard of them.
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Mar 04, 2017 06:06pm
Imran Khan negative attitude amd comments toward PSL become the main excuse for UK players to avoid coming to Lahore.
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Mar 04, 2017 06:09pm
Finals in Dubai would have been. Much. Better
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Mar 04, 2017 06:12pm
Rayad Emirit is from west indies and I think they have signed richard levi from sa and not emirit....!?
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Mar 04, 2017 06:24pm
Im not sure why I expected KP to be more graceful in announcing his decision.
Don't get me wrong, I believe it his decision is his own and must not be judged as right, wrong, brave or acutely self-serving... most of us if put in his shoea would choose jot to risk our life and definitely prioritize family over anything else.
But, his tweet lacked even the slightest semblance of Gladiator team comradarie or sadness over missing his teams gteatest test to date.
Thanks for those innings KP but thank you more for improving Quetta's greatest strength of team spirit by being absent.
Hope to see you snubbed next year.
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Mar 04, 2017 06:36pm
Who are these players? Just getting someone from abroad is useless. Salmi will easily win the final. Quetta is nothing without its foreign players. My prediction, it will be a one sided match.
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Mar 04, 2017 06:36pm
@Sheraz ali Do those England player told you that?
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Mar 04, 2017 06:35pm
We should be thankful to foreign players and welcome them to Pakistan.
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Mar 04, 2017 06:46pm
Keep going
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Mar 04, 2017 06:48pm
@Sayed If you really don't know Chigumbura then you should not talk about cricket
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Mar 04, 2017 06:50pm
I believe on leadership of Sarfraz and team sprite QG has shown throughout the tournament. QG do not have glittering names of players other teams have, but their performance is certainly sterling. Fortunately, their sterling performance is not fluke but they deserve every bit of it. They were the first team to reach final last year, and again they were first team to reach final this year.
It was unfortunate that last year, QG lost to Islamabad. This year, my feeling is that QG would win the final and would pick up the cup (regardless of who play in the team as foreign players). Both years (last year and this year), QG beat PZ to reach final. Last year, PZ got beaten by IU and could not reach final, but this year, PZ beat KK to reach final and would play QG again.
I doubt if PZ would be able to beat QG in this final, as even though PZ have big names, they lack strong leadership, team sprite, unity, and cool mind (that only captain and management can give to players).
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Mar 04, 2017 06:56pm
India should learn from resilience and determination of Pakistanis. Hats off really. Wishing you success from India.
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Mar 04, 2017 06:59pm
Bringing sub standard players for the final match is gonna do nothing good to Pakistan.
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Mar 04, 2017 07:02pm
Gladiators have already defeated Zalmi in the 1st. playoff. Therefore, final between the same teams has only the ceremonial value.
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Mar 04, 2017 07:13pm
Quetta all set to lose from PZ xD
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Mar 04, 2017 07:13pm
Good line up.
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Mar 04, 2017 07:16pm
This will not do any good for international cricket in Pakistan. This is just a political stunt to divert attention from Panama Leaks verdict and other major issues in the country.
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Mar 04, 2017 07:22pm
Najam Sethi is a man of words. He said that he will launch a T20 series and he did that. He said that he will get foreigners to play in Pakistan and he has done that. So what if these are club cricketers, atleast they are foreigners. This will be good for Pakistan's tourism industry.
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Mar 04, 2017 07:29pm
Good luck to them..
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Mar 04, 2017 07:41pm
@Sheraz ali Dont blame Imran Khan for the stubborness shown by Pcb for hosting final in Lahore. People in Pakistan are behaving like small children crying for candy. Finally psl final looks like a joke non the less.
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Mar 04, 2017 08:53pm
@Raj thackaray: But, why did you replace Ball with Raj?
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Mar 04, 2017 08:54pm
@Sheraz ali it was absolutely clear that UK players will not travel to Pak even after IK's statement.
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Mar 04, 2017 09:05pm
Even if no foreign player is in the final the excitement in Lahore would be the same.
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Mar 04, 2017 09:17pm
Gud luck ..for simply Even single foreign player dont know ..!! What we expect!! Maybe future young talent could be!!
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Mar 04, 2017 09:22pm
Best T20 players picked up
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Mar 04, 2017 09:35pm
It's better to include good domestic players in the final rather than taking this below par foreign players.
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Mar 04, 2017 09:52pm
Game of Cricket is much above any individual cricketers.
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Mar 04, 2017 10:14pm
Quetta has been a strong side
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Mar 04, 2017 10:34pm
Why these players? Russell Dwayne Mark Leverock (Sluggo) from Bermuda did not agree? He is a good bowlers and the opposition will be 'thunder struck'
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Mar 04, 2017 10:45pm
Best of luck PSL. This will be a cracker of a final.
I'm just so glad that cricket is returning to the homeland.
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Mar 04, 2017 11:15pm
@Raj thackaray : Well we will see what it will bring, one thing is sure we are showing the world that we are less worried about what you think. It is our determination that will shine i the end
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Mar 04, 2017 11:16pm
@INDIAN GUY : Thanks a lot and folks like you are very much welcome to our country with open hands and open heart.
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Mar 04, 2017 11:16pm
@M.Saeed : If you think this way, that tells me you have very little knowledge of Cricket game. Past results matter nothing when it comes to the final day. Any team can beat any team so lets wait and see
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Mar 04, 2017 11:56pm
These are cricket players? ??
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Mar 05, 2017 12:05am
Agreed....we want young fund to fire...with Quetta all the way!
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Mar 05, 2017 01:10am
Well done Pakistan - bringing an entire city under curfew just to prove Cricket can be organised at home
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Mar 05, 2017 01:17am
It's not about cricket anymore. I pray all goes smoothly.
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Mar 05, 2017 02:27am
@ForIeGner - it is guaranteed no foreign team will tour Pak for another 2 years!
Tight security for one match, cannot assure countries to tour over 2-4 week period..
Most Pakistanis are way too emotional about cricket isolation, to think clearly on this matter..
A message of defiance is needed, but that cannot forcibly coupled with foreign tours. The West has always been hypocritical in its selective choice about defiance and safety concerns when facing up to terrorism!
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Mar 05, 2017 03:30am
Erwine and Chigumbara have done great at world level (World Cups and other big tournaments).
PSL final in Lahore is a great step forward for Pakistan cricket. Hopefully, next year all PSL games will happen in Pakistan. Playing league cricket year over year in Pakistan and attracting big crowds and international players, will eventually bring test and ODI cricket back to Pakistan.
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Mar 05, 2017 03:40am
For the sake of cricket PSL should be fifty overs game. Twenty/20 is fluke game.
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Mar 05, 2017 07:42am
Mr Thakeray,
please look at the results of India vs Australia then talk about your pride which is going down the drain day by day, Australia is hammering your pride in your ground what good has all the top players done india
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Mar 05, 2017 08:55am
PTI Imran khan I didn't except this from a leader. You are supposed to be pakistani I wonder who u are now. People of Pakistan think of you a leader but you let them down by your comments on not holding PSL final in pakistan hurt them.
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Mar 05, 2017 10:24am
Local talent is better than these. Hope teams don't ignore local talent just for the sake of foreign players.
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Mar 05, 2017 11:30am
The foreign players which are not playing against Peshawar Zalmi , I think they are missing a big happy moment.
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Mar 05, 2017 11:32am
@Sheraz ali And your sorry attitude of believing a Cricket game being played under thousands of security personnel is the right kind of image to portray to the world just for some maniacal political figures to take credit of bringing Cricket back to Pakistan is all the more pathetic.
Imagine if the amount of money spent on this one final could have been spent the year round to stave off any real security threats to the common man. Cricket would have returned anyway. This way we give the clear impression that we ourselves do not belive in the general security conditions out here.
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Mar 05, 2017 11:36am
Queta Gladiator is not in loss with missing Foreign players... local players will do best Tonight
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Mar 05, 2017 12:24pm
Playing with substandard foreign player, won't help to improve the situation. It is better to play some good old retired Pakistan player like Imran Khan, Javed miandad or wasim akram instead
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Mar 05, 2017 01:03pm
@Sayed If u dont know them, that u dont follow cricket.....
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Mar 05, 2017 04:48pm
It is PCB's bold decision to hold PSL final in Lahore. The whole government machinery is behind this move. This will auger well for the cricket game in Pakistan. It however, also shows cowardness, weakness of character and faith of the foreign players who bowed out from playing final in Lahore. They have not only betrayed their benefectors "Quetta Gladiators" but also showed their weakness to the whole world that they did not desrve to be gladiators.
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Mar 05, 2017 07:40pm
sarfraz did not keeper
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Mar 06, 2017 03:37pm
What else can they do to make sure that the show must go on?
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