If IPL had Pakistanis

Indian Premier League or most commonly known as IPL is running at full swing. IPL first started in 2008, soon became the richest and the most popular league of Cricket. BCCI hosts the league and Indian players as well as foreign players divided in franchises or teams fight for the cup. Since its start cricketers from all the Test nations and two Associates Ireland and Netherlands have participated in various seasons of the IPL but only Pakistan players were stopped to participate further citing political reasons. Whatever the reasons might be, the bottom line is that Pakistanis haven’t seen their players participate in one of the most followed sporting event since 2008.

Let us suppose that in a parallel universe, Pakistan players are allowed to participate in the IPL. The following players could have filled the voids present in some of the teams.

Umar Akmal (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Sunrisers have one of the most destructive top orders in T20 cricket. David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan as openers, followed by Kane Williamson as one-down. They the pace of Mustafizur Rahman, Ashish Nehra and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The only thing they lag in is some international quality middle-order batsman who can score a quick-fire 30-35 on one day and support the team if the top order fails on the other day. Umar Akmal is surely what they need. He has the ability to hold one end up and generate some quick runs against any bowler and on any wicket. He, along with Yuvraj Singh, can help save the Sunrisers’ ship nearly every time.