Peshawar Zalmi’s captain Wahab Riaz and experienced wicket-keeper batter Kamran Akmal have fully recovered from Covid-19 and have joined the Zalmi camp ahead of their second match of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022.
Both players were allowed to train with the squad after their negative Covid-19 tests a few days ago. Initially, both players along with explosive opening batter Hazratullah Zazai had tested positive prior to the start of the PSL. As a result, they missed Zalmi’s opening match of the tournament against Quetta Gladiators on Friday night.
Shoaib Malik was named captain in absence of Wahab Riaz while young English batter Tom Kohler-Cadmore fulfilled the wicket-keeping duties in place of Kamran Akmal. Despite the absence of two experienced players, Peshawar did not miss a beat as they expertly chased down a target of 191 to win their opening encounter of the event.
It is expected that Wahab and Kamran will feature in Zalmi’s next PSL match against Islamabad United on 30 January. While Peshawar did not particularly miss the services of Kamran, they did lack the firepower of Wahab in their bowling unit.
Zalmi will be determined to continue their fine run of form and register their second win of the campaign to put them in pole position to qualify for their seventh successive playoffs.
