Babar Azam appointed the new captain of Peshwar Zalmi

Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam will take over as captain of Peshawar Zalmi in the 2023 Pakistan Super League season, replacing Wahab Riaz. According to ESPNcricinfo, the club began a metamorphosis in 2021 after obtaining Babar from the Karachi Kings in exchange for Shoaib Malik and Haider Ali, with the intention of building a new core. No team has had a more committed fan base than Zalmi since the league’s inception in 2016. Daren Sammy, Hasan Ali, Kamran Akmal, and Wahab Riaz have all played for the franchise. After winning the title in 2017, Zalmi has had a steady rise, making it to the finals in 2018 and 2019, the eliminator in 2020, and the finals in 2021.

Wahab has been the team’s rock. However, his influence on the field diminished after he turned 37 years old. Earlier this year, he was demoted from the PSL’s platinum to diamond player category. 40-year-old Akmal has been let go. Zalmi is seeking 11 players for the PSL draft, which will take place in Karachi on December 15. They have retained Sherfane Rutherford, Aamir Jamal (Brand Ambassador), Salman Irshad, and Tom-Kohler Cadmore in addition to signing hard-hitting batter Mohammad Haris.

Babar’s run in PSL

Babar’s PSL journey began in 2016 with Islamabad United, however, he was released after just two matches. He has played for Karachi Kings since the following year, where he has dominated the charts with an average of 43.60 and a strike rate of 121.97 on his way to being the competition’s top scorer with 2413 runs in 68 matches. But as his relationship with the team deteriorated, the squad played poorly while he was in charge, dropping nine out of ten games. The kings will now be led by Imad Wasim. PSL 2023 will run from February 9 until March 19. Due to Covid-19, there will be four cities where the matches will be played instead of just two like in the previous two seasons (Lahore and Karachi).