Barring the first season of IPL, Pakistan players have not been a part of the competition. They were once in the auctions but no team picked them. From then on, IPL has been devoid of Pakistani players. Recently, in an interview with Sportskeeda, Shoaib Akhtar talked about this and the likely picks for teams had the Pak cricketers been available for the event. In this article, we take a look as Shoaib Akhtar picks the teams Pakistan players would have represented had they played IPL 2022.
The teams Pakistan players would have represented had they played IPL 2022
Pakistan players are good in T20 cricket at the moment. The country has a good domestic tournament and that was one of the reasons why they reached the semi-finals of the 2021 T20 World Cup. On that note, here is picks made by Shoaib Akhtar on which Pakistan cricketer would be part of which IPL franchise:
•Shoaib Malik – Lucknow Super Giants
•Azhar Ali – Rajasthan Royals
•Asif Ali – Kolkata Knight Riders
•Mohammad Rizwan – Royal Challengers Bangalore
•Babar Azam – Mumbai Indians
•Shaheen Shah Afridi – Delhi Capitals
Of these picks, only Shoaib Malik has played in the IPL before. He was part of the Delhi Daredevils (Delhi Capitals) back then. The other interesting choices made by the former Pakistan speedster are that of Babar Azam playing for Mumbai Indians and Rizwan donning the RCB jersey. Akthar also picked Shaheen Afridi for Delhi although the team had a reliable speedster in Anrich Nortje.
What if Shoaib Malik played for Lucknow Super Giants 🤔@Shoaib100mph answers hypothetical questions only on Sportskeeda What If Pakistani players played In IPL 2022#IPL2022 #ShoaibAkhtar #PSL pic.twitter.com/nAcnTAlxti
— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) May 23, 2022
Advertisement
India and Pakistan players hardly play together now
Since the Indian cricketers do not take part in overseas leagues, we hardly see Indian and Pakistan cricketers in the same team. However, in recent months, that has happened in the County Championship. Cheteshwar Pujara and Mohammad Rizwan both played for Sussex in the recent edition. It needs to be seen if this would repeat in the coming months.
