Peshawar Zalmi's Strongest XI For PSL 2026- Babar Azam Back As Opener?

Peshawar Zalmi Strongest XI for PSL 2026 [Source: AFP]

The Pakistan Super League 2026 is set to commence on March 26, and the Babar Azam-led Peshawar Zalmi look to chase the lost glory, having not won the league title since 2017.

Ahead of the player auction for PSL 2026, they retained their star player and captain Babar Azam, alongside leg-spinner Sufyan Muqeem, Abdul Samad and teenager Ali Raza. Later on, they went into the auction and focused on building a squad with a blend of experience and youth.

Among their overseas stars are Aaron Hardie, James Vince, Kusal Mendis, Michael Bracewell and Nahid Rana, among others, who will be in contention for the playing XI.

As the Zalmi begin their campaign against the newly added Pindiz, we explore their best playing XI ahead of the season.

Peshawar Zalmi's Strongest XI for PSL 2026

Top order- Babar Azam (c), James Vince, Mohammad Haris (wk)

The Peshawar Zalmi captain and leading run-scorer of the Pakistan Super League, Babar Azam, will bat at his preferred position at the top of the order. He recently batted at 4 in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup but ended with a substandard tournament and would like to lead Zalmi from the front with a good season again.

Babar should bat alongside the experienced James Vince from England. He has previously played in 56 PSL matches and scored 1544 runs at a strike rate close to 140. Overall, he has experience playing leagues around the world, accumulating over 13000 runs in 458 T20 innings.

The 24-year-old wicketkeeper batter, Mohammad Haris, will bat at 3 with experience of over 150 T20 matches in the leagues around the world. He is known for his high-octane batting in the powerplay and has a T20 career strike rate touching 145. Previously, he has played for Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL, impressing in 37 outings.

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(Mohammad Haris' T20 and PSL stats)

Middle Order- Iftikhar Ahmed, Aaron Hardie, Abdul Samad, Michael Bracewell, Aamer Jamal

All-rounder Ifitkhar Ahmed is slated at number 4 in this lineup, as he returns to the Peshawar Zalmi for the first time since 2016/17. He has played 78 PSL games and scored 1134 runs at a strike rate of over 130 and picked 13 wickets in 36 innings with his off-spin. His experience will hold their middle-order together.

The recent BBL winner, Aaron Hardie, will come in at 5 as another multi-faceted player in the top-5. This will be the first PSL for the 27-year-old, but he has played 99 T20s, scoring 1855 runs at a strike rate of 133, to go with his 56 scalps with medium pace bowling.

The 28-year-old Abdul Samad will bat at number 6 for the Peshawar Zalmi after showing his boundary-hitting prowess in a 33-match T20 career. So far, he has 399 runs in 27 innings at a strike rate of 143.52 in T20 cricket.

Yet another all-rounder in Peshawar Zalmi’s best XI will be Michael Bracewell, who can bowl tight spells with the ball whenever his team needs him to chip in. He also has close to 3500 T20 runs in 171 innings to his credit and scores boundaries at will in the death overs. Since the start of 2024, he has had an impeccable record with the bat, scoring at close to 150.

(Michael Bracewell's batting record in T20s since 2024)

The pace-bowling allrounder, Aamer Jamal, will complete the long batting lineup at number 8. He has batted 49 times in T20 cricket and scored 616 runs at a strike rate of 152.47, hitting 63 fours and 30 sixes. He also has 62 wickets in 60 innings, and the international experience brings a lot of value to this team.

Bowlers- Khurram Shahzad, Sufyan Muqeem, Nahid Rana

The two frontline pacers of the lineup will be Khurram Shahzad and Bangladesh quick Nahid Rana. The frontline spinner will be the leg-spinner Sufyan Muqeem, who recently also played for Pakistan in the Asia Cup.

So far, Shahzad has picked 30 wickets in 20 innings, conceding at just over 8 runs per over, with the best figures of 4/22. He has represented Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi previously. On the other hand, Nahid Rana, who will play his first PSL this season, has 27 wickets in 30 T20s, including 23 in BPL. He can bowl economical spells at around 7.50-8 runs per over.

The 23-year-old leggie, Suyan Muqeem, will be their x-factor player, who has a T20 economy rate of under 7 runs per over. He has gotten 61 scalps to his name in 46 innings with the best figures of 5/3. So far, Muqeem has been a part of ADKR, Mirpur Royals and Rangpur Riders apart from Zalmi in T20 cricket.

Peshawar Zalmi Strongest XI For PSL 2026- Babar Azam (c), James Vince, Mohammad Haris (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Aaron Hardie, Abdul Samad, Michael Bracewell, Aamer Jamal, Khurram Shahzad, Sufyan Muqeem, Nahid Rana.

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