KARACHI: Quetta Gladiators have decided to remove Sarfaraz Ahmed as captain ahead of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season nine, owner Nadeem Omer confirmed to Geo News.

“Sarfaraz wants to take a break from captaincy with new head coach Shane Watson set to decide who will lead the side after consulting with the team management,” Nadeem said.

Reportedly, South Africa’s Rilee Rossouw and Pakistan’s middle-order batter Saud Shakeel are the two contenders to replace Sarfaraz. The official announcement will be made in the upcoming days.

It is worth mentioning that Quetta played three finals under Sarfaraz’s leadership and also clinched the title in 2019.

Meanwhile, Nadeem is happy to see Watson coming back to Gladiators as a coach and wishes to bring Kevin Pietersen too.

“The old family of Quetta Gladiators has started coming together again. Pietersen should also come with Quetta Gladiators in some role,” he said.

Quetta Gladiators’ PSL 9 squad
Rilee Rossouw (Platinum), Mohammad Wasim, Jason Roy, Wanindu Hasaranga (all Diamond), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Brand Ambassador) Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Hasnain (all Gold), Mohammad Amir, Will Smeed (Silver) Saud Shakeel, Sajjad Ali, Usman Qadir, Adil Naz, Khawaja Nafay, Akeal Hosein, Sohail Khan, Omair Yousuf, Sherfane Rutherford, Bismillah Khan (partial replacement for Wanindu Hasaranga), Sufiyan Muqeem

It must be noted that PSL 9 will be held in four cities — Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi — with the final of the event taking place at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi on March 18.

Like the previous edition, the PSL 9 will take place in two legs with Multan Cricket Stadium and Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium hosting 14 matches between them from February 17 to 27. The action then moves to Rawalpindi’s Pindi Cricket Stadium and Karachi’s National Bank Stadium, where 16 matches will be held from February 28 to March 12. The event will then move to Karachi in its entirety for the playoffs.

Jaffar Hussain