The Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2024 began on February 17 and concluded on March 18.

Organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), as many as six teams played a total of 34 T20 matches across four venues in PSL 2024. 

Islamabad United, Karachi Kings, Lahore Qalandars, Multan Sultans, Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators are the teams that were competing for the PSL 2024 title.

Some of the talented T20 bowlers including the likes of Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Wasim, David Willey, Abbas Afridi, Shadab Khan and Hasan Ali participated in the Pakistan Super League.

Multan Sultans�?Abbas Afridi finished with the most wickets in PSL 2023. The 22-year-old right-arm pacer picked up 23 wickets in 11 matches in the 2023 edition.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan fast bowler Wahab Riaz holds the record for the most wickets in PSL history. Between 2016 and 2023, the left-arm pacer bagged 113 wickets in 88 matches for Peshawar Zalmi.

Islamabad United captain Shadab Khan took the first wicket in PSL 2024. The star leg-spinner dismissed Lahore Qalandars�?opening batter Fakhar Zaman in the opening game of the T20 tournament. 

Peshawar Zalmi leg-spinner Arif Yaqoob became the first bowler to claim a five-wicket haul in PSL 2024. Arif Yaqoob recorded match-winning figures of 5/27 against Islamabad United to help his side win the game by eight runs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Apart from Yaqoob, the likes of Mohammad Ali, David Willey, Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed and Usama Mir were in contention to be the top wicket-taker in PSL 2024.

Here’s a look at the players with most wickets in PSL 2024.

Most wickets in PSL 2024: Know the top wicket-takers in Pakistan Super League

Player	Team	Matches	Wickets
Usama Mir	Multan Sultans	12	24
Mohammad Ali	Multan Sultans	12	19
Abrar Ahmed	Quetta Gladiators	10	16
David Willey	Multan Sultans	11	15
Akeal Hosein	Quetta Gladiators	10	15
Naseem Shah	 Islamabad United	 11	15
Shaheen Afridi	Lahore Qalandars	9	14
Hasan Ali	Karachi Kings	10	14
 Shadab Khan	 Islamabad United	12	14
Abbas Afridi	Multan Sultans	9	13

Photo credit: Alamy

Teenage cricketing sensations Haider Ali and Naseem Shah have been picked for Pakistan's tour of England next month, continuing the country's tradition of throwing young players in at the deep end.

Pakistan's 29-member squad will begin the tour with at least a month of training in a 'bio-secure' environment, before the series of three Tests and three Twenty20 internationals gets cracking on August 5.

Seventeen-year-old pacer Shah will be a star attraction, having become the youngest bowler ever to take a Test hat-trick in February after only debuting in Australia last year.

Haider's inclusion, at the age of 19, will also spark excitement after he scored 107 runs in the Under-19 World Cup this year, followed by 218 runs in the Emerging Teams Cup in Bangladesh.

He also tallied 645 runs -- including a century in the final -- in Pakistan's premier domestic tournament Quaid-e-Azam Trophy last year.

Read | Pakistan axes training camp ahead of England tour over virus fears

Chief selector and head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said the selection of the unusually large team was difficult.

"The selectors have picked a squad which gives us the best chance of success in England. It was a challenging process as the players have not played for an extended period of time," said Misbah.

Middle-order batsman Haris Sohail was the only player who pulled out of the tour due to virus fears, while fast bowler Mohammad Amir -- sentenced in a spot-fixing case in UK in 2010 -- withdrew to attend the birth of his second child in August.

Amir was part of Pakistan's tours in 2016 and 2018 after completing his five-year ban for spot-fixing.

Middle-order batsman Fawad Alam, a prolific scorer in domestic events but who has not been given a chance in a Test team since 2009, made the squad.

Wicket-keeper Sarfaraz Ahmed, sacked as captain and excluded from all three formats last year in a surprise move, will also tour England and has a chance to play in the Twenty20 series.

Read | Pakistan chief optimistic about England tour

Fast bowler Sohail Khan was recalled after playing his latest Test in December 2016.

Spinners Bilal Asif and Mohammad Nawaz, opener Imran Butt, fast bowler Musa Khan are named as reserves in case any of the players fail pre-tour virus testing, which will be carried out on 20 and 25 June, said Misbah.

Pakistan will play Tests in Manchester (August 5-9) and Southampton (August 13-17 and 21-25).

The three Twenty20 internationals will all be played in Southampton on August 28, 30 and September 1.

Squad: Azhar Ali (Test captain), Babar Azam (Twenty20 captain), Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan, Yasir Shah

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Aamir Qureshi

No, India aren't playing any more Tests at home till 2021, but that doesn't mean we have zero Test match action in the country. Afghanistan and West Indies - oh yes, that series isn't done yet - take on each other and some flies at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow for a one-off Test match. Though Afghanistan aren't a part of the World Test Championship (WTC) and this match isn't a part of the WTC, there is keen interest on Afghanistan's start to the Test cricket. They have won two of their first three Test matches, including an away win against Bangladesh. West Indies, who lost the T20I series, will know their opponents are no pushovers.

Watch out for:

Rashid Khan - What's Afghanistan cricket without the prodigal son, Rashid Khan. The leg-spinner has a rather meek initiation to Test cricket with India ruining his Test debut. But since then, he has stormed back to be the Rashid Khan we all know him to be. He has 18 wickets in his last two Test matches after just two wickets in his opening Test. Take him lightly at your own risk.

Day-night Test at Adelaide

We know Tim Paine extended a rather warm - or cheeky - welcome to Virat Kohli to play a day-night Test in Australia, but that's not happening until next year. For now, it's Pakistan, who lost inside four days at Brisbane, who will play a day-night Test with the pink ball. The last time these two teams played a day-night Test in Australia, we had a rather close finish on day five despite Australia dominating the entire Test. Just Pakistan things, but this series needs some of that unpredictability to spark more interest.

Watch out for:

Naseem Shah - 16 or 19 or 25, Naseem Shah had a proper debut at Brisbane. While he bowled just 20 overs - and only four on day 3 - in Australia's first innings, bowling coach Waqar Younis put that down to giving the youngster lesser workload. He can swing the ball, clock speeds in the high 140s and test the batsmen with bounce. With a pink ball in hand, he could be that much-needed weapon for Pakistan.

And that weird England-New Zealand game

Now every time New Zealand and England play, people expect miracles. The teams haven't stopped dishing out midnight miracles yet, and at Mount Maunganui, it was BKJ Watling's double ton and Mitchell Santner's hundred that brought New Zealand back from the dead in the first innings. The Black Caps have a rather funny way of imposing themselves on matches once they start to find their groove, one reason for their Test success in recent times. But England are no easy proposition and a seething Jofra Archer can mean only one thing - more perfume balls.

Watch out for:

Stuart Broad - He was nearly absent in the first Test match with Archer, Sam Curran and even Jack Leach hogging headlines. But Broad is Broad and he has his way when things start going his way. Ask David Warner. 33 wicketless overs at Mount Maunganui should play on Broad's mind but expect him to put that behind and produce a much better display with conditions expected to be even more conducive to swing bowling at Hamilton.

Wondering what to do next? Head to Sportsbet.io to select your picks.

Feature image courtesy: AFP / Michael Bradley

The BCCI announced the squad for the upcoming limited-overs series against the West Indies, where India are set to play three T20Is and three ODIs against the visiting Windies, the second time the teams will be playing each other in a series this year.

ALERT : #TeamIndia for the upcoming @Paytm series against West Indies announced. #INDvWI pic.twitter.com/7RJLc4MDB1

�?BCCI (@BCCI) November 21, 2019

While most of the squad was on expected lines, there was one particular player whose exclusion generated quite a bit of chatter on social media. Sanju Samson, who last played for India in 2015, was dropped from the squad despite not given a single game in the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh.

Many of them were also critical of the constant backing for Rishabh Pant, who has not had a great time with the bat in recent times, and was even dropped from the Test team at the start of the South Africa series.

Check out some of the reactions here:

Sanju Samson not in the squad against the West Indies. How do you drop a player without giving him a single chance? And what do you think it's doing to the confidence of the cricketer?

�?Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) November 21, 2019

Hard on Sanju Samson but I guess he is much better off playing games rather than just travelling around. Big vote of confidence in Rishabh Pant but the team will expect more from him.

�?Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 21, 2019

Sanju Samson deserves to be in the team #INDvsWI pic.twitter.com/M6hdgTGux6

�?shubham007 (@shubhamhota007) November 21, 2019

Sanju Samson Dropped From Squad without getting any single chance.

Being Sanju Samson is Really Hard ☹�#justiceforsanju pic.twitter.com/rSJvGVxZWb

�?Baburaj (@babukombalanz) November 21, 2019

#SanjuSamson
shame on BCCI & selectors pic.twitter.com/FtEjflNP9w

�?Gokul Menoth (@gokulmenoth) November 21, 2019

#Sanjusamson
Ind vs Wi
Me waiting Sanju Samson to play for india. pic.twitter.com/T2VPV8v8dZ

�?GOKULKRISHNAN (@GOKUL252489) November 21, 2019

#INDvsWI

Sanju Samson Dropped from Squad for WI series

Every Palyer gets a chance and fails but He fails everytime without Getting even a Single Chance

Being Sanju Samson is Really Hard#Sanjusamson pic.twitter.com/ONGFNqUPGl

�?PasuPathy (@pathy0251997) November 21, 2019

Samson had come into the team on the back of a productive Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he scored 410 runs in eight matches at an average of 58.57. The highlight was a record-breaking 212*, his first double-century in limited-overs cricket.

Featured image courtesy: AFP/ Punit Paranjpe

At one glance, he appears to be like Dennis Lillee. At another, he looks like Shane Bond. In yet another, there is a distinct tinge of Dominic Cork to his action. He is none of these, but could well go on to become as good as some of these in a few years down the lane. Meet Pakistan's sixteen-year-old pace bowling sensation, Naseem Shah.

The Pakistan bowling attack touring Australia is young and raw, but that could well prove to be an advantage if Naseem is an example of how raw they are.

"He's not as big as Dennis �?Dennis was a big guy �?but when he gets it right, he's a handful," Waqar Younis, Pakistan's bowling coach, said of Naseem. The teenage sensation lost his mother on Monday with Pakistan playing Australia A in a tour game.

While Naseem was given permission to go back home to attend the funeral and take part in the mourning, the fact that he wouldn't have reached before the funeral made him stay back in Australia.

But no, he wasn't mourning the death of his mother, not at least in public view. Instead, Naseem went on to rip open the Australian A side, some of which were Test cricketers, in a probing spell worth writing home about.

Such was the attention Naseem Shah drew that Cricket Australia’s twitter handle was buzzing with videos of his incredible showing. A brief summary of his spell shows how good and near-impossible it was to negotiate Naseem Shah.

Smoke!

16-year-old Naseem Shah impressed with his serious pace against the Australia A top order. #AUSAvPAK pic.twitter.com/tHx9XEK9BS

�?cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 13, 2019

His incredible performance drew instant comparisons to Shane Bond because of a very similar whippy action. Cricket Australia put up a comparison video which shows the two bowlers side by side and we just wouldn't have made out who is who if not for the ODI jersey Bond is wearing.

Naseem Shah says he's been told his action is similar to that of former NZ quick Shane Bond.#AUSAvPAK pic.twitter.com/PCKQ7jHWId

�?cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 13, 2019

He only picked up a single wicket in his exceptional spell of fast bowling but it had the opponents and social media raving about the talent in him.

Naseem gets a well-deserved wicket with a searing short ball!

Watch #AusAvPAK: //t.co/fej6gSpsJZ pic.twitter.com/DbFS0qO30F

�?cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 13, 2019

Unfortunately, he could have had one more wicket if Pakistan hadn't let go of a chance at slip of his bowling.

Put down at first slip!

Naseem Shah is bowling beautifully in Perth.

Watch #AusAvPAK: //t.co/fej6gSpsJZ pic.twitter.com/Kh4iipZ4e1

�?cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 13, 2019

Naseem had hit the headlines earlier too when his raw pace became noted at junior levels. He impressed in the Pakistan colours for under-15 teams with his pace and missed out on a PSL debut earlier this year due to injury.

However, Misbah-ul-Haq's tenure as selector helped him get a nod ahead of some regular names and Naseem is here to delight. It is highly expected that he would start for Pakistan in the first Test against Australia later this month.

Feature image courtesy: Twitter / @ICC

Pakistan head into the opening Test in Brisbane on Thursday seeking a rare win on Australian soil, and could unleash a 16-year-old debutant in a teenage pace attack against seasoned stars Steve Smith and David Warner.

Pakistan have drawn a series in Australia, but have never won one, and last tasted a Test victory at Sydney in 1995.

A handful of players, including new skipper Azhar Ali, Babar Azam and the in-form Asad Shafiq, were part of their last tour in 2016/17 when they crashed 3-0, but are better for it, said then-captain and now head coach Misbah-ul-Haq..

"Our previous record in Australia won't put us under pressure," he said.

"If anything, it'll be an opportunity and motivation to win because whatever we couldn't achieve in the past, we can do now.

"It's a young and hungry team and it means business," he added. "This team wants to take the challenge. We want to give our best, play good cricket and think about winning."

They will be relying heavily on Azam and Shafiq, who scored a century in Brisbane three years ago and has had a perfect lead-up this time, hitting an unbeaten 119 against Australia A then 101 not out against a Cricket Australia XI.

Australia, though, are on a roll. They retained the Ashes with a 2-2 draw in England in September and beat Pakistan 2-0 in their recent Twenty20 series.

How the bowlers fare will be key on a Gabba wicket traditionally seen as a paceman's paradise.

Australia boast the experienced Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, however James Pattinson will be missing after being suspended this week for player abuse.

Pakistan may unveil teenage quick Naseem Shah, 16, for his debut as part of a young attack boasting 19-year-olds Shaheen Afridi and Musa Khan, alongside the impressive Muhammad Abbas and veteran Imran Khan senior.

Read | Naseem Shah: Pakistan’s next pace bowling sensation

Their credentials were on show in the build-up against an Australian A team in Perth featuring Test players Joe Burns, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft, dismissing them for 122.

But removing Smith and Warner -- in their first home Test since their ball-tampering bans -- will likely be a different proposition.

Skipper Tim Paine said the Australia A game was irrelevant.

"I saw that Pakistan are smelling blood in the water or whatever they said," he told reporters.

"What happened in Perth has got nothing to do with what is going to happen at the Gabba."

While Warner had a miserable Ashes, scoring just 95 runs at an average of 9.5, he has since bounced back into form.

Smith, meanwhile, is still revelling in his remarkable series in England, where he scored 774 runs in just seven innings and played a pivotal role in his side's two victories.

Ominously for Pakistan, he hit a century when they last played in Brisbane in late 2016.

Despite his poor Ashes run, Warner's spot at the top of the order was never in doubt, but Australia have struggled to find a suitable partner.

Burns, who scored a century in his last Test against Sri Lanka in February, is set to assume the job in Brisbane ahead of Bancroft.

Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head and Matthew Wade round out the middle order.

The second and final Test, a day-night affair, is in Adelaide later this month.

Australia squad: Tim Paine (capt), Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner

Pakistan squad: Azhar Ali (capt), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan senior, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashid Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan, Nusa Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah

Featured image courtesy: AFP/ William West