The 2024 Pakistan Super League will commence tonight (Saturday) at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, where defending champions and local favourites Lahore Qalandars will take on Islamabad United in what promises to be an enthralling encounter.

Ahead of the new season, Dawn.com took a magnifier to each of the six teams, and here is our assessment of what they look like on paper:

Islamabad United

Two-time winners Islamabad United have immense firepower at the top — something all versions of their batting lineup over the years have had.

With Alex Hales and Colin Munro up top, anchors Salman Agha and Qasim Akram in the middle and skipper Shadab Khan and Azam Khan there for late fireworks, the capital city side could pile up big scores in a hurry.

The side lacks depth in bowling but Shadab, Naseem Shah, and Imad Wasim make for a decent unit — if not the best. Pacer Tom Curran has been ruled out due to injury, which means Rumman Raees, Tymal Mills and Faheem Ashraf will be relied upon more than usual.

United also have Naseem’s younger brother Ubaid Shah on their books. The young pacer was brilliant in the recent under-19 World Cup so it’d be interesting how he fares in the PSL alongside his elder sibling.

Multan Sultans

While Islamabad have batting as their main strength, Multan Sultans’ power is in their bowling — especially their pace.

Names such as David Willey, Chris Jordan, Ihsanullah, Abbas Afridi and Shahnawaz Dahani will be the shouldering the bowling burden, whereas skipper Mohammad Rizwan, Dawid Malan, Reeze Hendricks, Iftikhar Ahmed and Khushdil Shah are the notable batting options.

The Sultans have also signed Tayyab Tahir and Muhammad Shahzad — two solid batters who can score at a strike rate of 170+ when required.

On the spin front, the Sultans have picked emerging left-arm wrist spinner Faisal Akram alongside leggie Usama Mir.

Karachi Kings

Since their PSL triumph in 2020, the Kings have not made it past the first round of playoffs, with a common criticism over the years being their precariously calculated strategy which often did not go as planned.

Perhaps to inject more aggression, the Kings revamped their side, but surprisingly brought in the national Test captain Shan Masood and pacer Hasan Ali, who some say is already past his prime.

The Kings of 2024 have several new names but are still somehow a little short of out and out firepower. Skipper Masood, Shoaib Malik, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan and Anwar Ali can all be relied upon to put in shifts but can anyone of them win a game singlehandedly anymore? Likely not.

To make matters rose, James Vince and Tabraiz Shamsi will also not be available for the tournament.

The Kings do have Caribbean legend Kieron Pollard but at the age of 36 it might just be asking too much of him to inject some flair in this otherwise dull-ish unit.

Lahore Qalandars

Since Shaheen Shah Afridi took over their captaincy a few years ago, Lahore Qalandars have become a completely different unit. They always had superb bowlers but now they have also learnt how to win matches and even championships.

Pair Afridi with Haris Rauf, David Wiese, Sikandar Raza and Zaman Khan, and they become a scary unit of ball hurlers. It could have been even better had they had the services of Rashid Khan, who has been a regular for Qalandars but is currently out injured.

Qalandars also possess a stable batting lineup that sees them rely on southpaw Fakhar Zaman and the stylish Abdullah Shafique up top. Then there is Sahibzada Farhan, Shai Hope, Kamran Ghulam, Rassie Van der Dussen and youngster Mirza Baig.

Rauf’s recent troubles with the PCB could do one of these things: he either fades into irrelevance or takes out his anger on PSL batters. If latter’s the case, Lahore could have a decent shot at becoming the first PSL side to three-peat.

Peshawar Zalmi

Of all the PSL batting units, Peshawar Zalmi’s has the most ideal set of T20 batters in the form of Saim Ayub, Rovman Powell, Tom Kohler-Cadmore and even Asif Ali. If the quartet clicks regularly, then the the 200-run mark should be breached often.

To support the big hitting, a side needs an anchor, and Zalmi have arguably the best anchor in the business in the form of Babar Azam.

It will be interesting to see how the former Pakistan captain paces himself around such firepower while having a point to prove himself regarding his own strike rate in the format.

What they boast in batting, they don’t in bowling. In fact, some could dub them the weakest bowling unit in the league.

Names such as Aamer Jamal and Khurram Shahzad are unlikely to strike fear into the hearts of any batters just yet, which means Zalmi could frequently need larger contributions from their batters to cover for their bowling unit’s deficiencies.

Zalmi have also picked South African Lungi Ngidi and Shamar Joseph, the West Indies pacer who recently helped his side to their first Test win in Australia since 1997. They are, however, unlikely to be available for the entire tournament.

Quetta Gladiators

Under new captaincy, Quetta Gladiators are a balanced squad with no obvious weakness in any department. If one has to nitpick, perhaps spin could be their one weak area.

Jason Roy and Will Smeed will open the innings for the Gladiators, and both can take advantage of the first six overs of the game. Sarfaraz Ahmed, Rilee Rossouw and Sherfane Rutherford would follow the pair with all three batters capable of playing through the innings while scoring quickly.

Test batter Saud Shakeel, the newly appointed vice-captain of Quetta Gladiators, would also be keen to justify his elevation.

The Gladiators have Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain, veteran Sohail Khan and Mohammad Wasim Jr as their fast bowling options.