What's gone wrong for Quetta Gladiators in the last two seasons?
The reasons include a one-dimensional pace attack, Sarfaraz Ahmed's falling stock, and more
Sarfaraz Ahmed's previous two campaigns with the Quetta Gladiators have come after he was sacked from the Pakistan captaincy and removed from the side altogether • PCB
There are only so many stars a side can lose without the shine coming off them, and the Gladiators have lost star batters by the shedload over the past few seasons. One of the most reliable strategies for success in the PSL is also one of the more straightforward ones: select world-class overseas batters, stick them at the top of the order and watch the runs and boundaries tumble in. For the first three seasons, the Gladiators could boast perhaps the biggest star of all in Kevin Pietersen, joined a year later by PSL royalty Rilee Rossouw, before Shane Watson and Jason Roy linked up with them in 2018. Add to that roster Ahmed Shehzad, who, in the initial years of the PSL, still harboured hopes of joining the ranks of those three in T20 celebrity status, and had the numbers to back it up. Only Watson and Pietersen hit more sixes for the franchise, while no one betters Shehzad's nine half-centuries.
It never hurts to have an express pace bowler in a side, whatever the format, but could it hurt if you cram in as many as three on subcontinental pitches? The Gladiators had Dale Steyn, Mohammad Hasnain and Naseem Shah on their roster, but all have ended up proving either prohibitively expensive or ineffectual for the best part of the tournament. Steyn isn't quite the phenomenon he has been for so long around the world, and when Wahab Riaz and Sherfane Rutherford smashed him for 21 in a tight penultimate over in a crucial early game, the writing seemed to be on the wall. It was a game that captured effectively the Gladiators' inability to keep the runs down against their fast bowling, with Hasnain, Steyn and Shinwari conceding a combined 133 in 11.3 overs.
Ahmed's influence over Pakistani cricket over the past decade or so is hard to overstate, and in a lot of ways he is Mr Quetta Gladiators, so long term is his service to that franchise. The Gladiators are the only team to retain their captain from the first season, and it was easy to see why when Ahmed led them from one successful campaign to another. His contributions with the bat over the years have anchored the Gladiators through several sticky spots, combining regularly with Rossouw over the years, especially in tight chases.
It would be harsh to allocate any blame to Ahmed for not calling correctly, but the inflated importance of bowling first in Karachi meant losing all their tosses in the first leg didn't help the Gladiators' cause. They were forced to bat first in each of the five games they played there, losing their first four and finding themselves on the verge of elimination before the league was halted anyway. They were the only side to actually defend a total in Karachi this year, keeping the Sultans at bay in their fifth game. But as Wednesday's game, where they won the toss and chased against the same opposition illustrates, the Gladiators' problems run deeper than the landing of a coin.
Danyal Rasool is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Danny61000