Glenn Maxwell Mohsin Naqvi for PSL. Image Credits: AFP
The PSL 2026 has been in a hot soup ever since the New Era slogan was raised. Firstly, there were corruption charges in the PSL team selling process and one of the teams was resold. Then, players available for auction became redudantly limited given PSL's clash with IPL.
Now, just 3 days before the tournament officially starts on March 26, the Pakistan Cricket Board has announced that the entire PSL 2026 schedule will be changed and all the games will be played across 2 venues only in Lahore and Karachi.
Also, all the games will be played behind closed doors. Apart from this, a lot of players have pulled out of the league citing personal reasons, while some have joined the IPL too.
Saim Ayub humiliated once again before PSL 2026
Amid all this harakiri, domestic player issues don't seem to resolve. Now, one of Pakistan's next generation superstars, Saim Ayub, has been ditched by his PSL franchise in the core leadership group.
The trajectory of Saim Ayub’s promising career appears to have been in steady decline over the past few months. Earlier this month, the cricketer was overlooked as a captaincy candidate for the Hyderabad Kingsmen for PSL 2026, with the franchise instead preferring senior Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne.
Moreover, the Kingsmen have now also overlooked Ayub for the vice-captaincy, naming uncapped Hassan Khan as Labuschagne’s deputy.
The Hyderabad Kingsmen franchise picked Pakistan-born all-rounder Hassan Khan as the vice-captain of the team ahead of the upcoming PSL 2026 season. Hassan now joins captain Marnus Labuschagne, head coach Jason Gillespie, assistant coach Craig White and batting coach Hanif Malik as part of the franchise’s leadership group.
Interestingly enough, this is the second time the Hyderabad Kingsmen franchise has ignored Saim Ayub as part of its leadership core this month, first as captain and now as vice-captain.
Also Read- Hyderabad Kingsmen's Strongest XI For PSL 2026- Labuschagne to Lead Saim Ayub and Maxwell
Ayub, who is currently ranked number three in the world of ICC Men’s T20I all-rounders, has been a notable omission from the franchise’s leadership plans despite his rising stature in international cricket. However, for the past few months, the youngster has been struggling for form and consistency with the Pakistan cricket team.
Saim Ayub’s recent struggles and dip in form
Saim Ayub recently spent the entire 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka without notching up a single half-century or a match-winning innings. In five innings of the tournament, the dynamic left-handed top-order batter managed to aggregate just 70 runs at a dismal average of 14.
In matches against India and England, the youngster was dismissed for just six and seven runs respectively. However, Ayub did go on a wicket-taking spree with the ball at the showpiece event, picking up five wickets in the limited overs he bowled, which included a tight three-fer against Team India.
The 23-year-old also did not register a single 50-plus score in the entire T20I tri-series at home last November, as well as in Pakistan’s away series against Sri Lanka back in January. Ayub’s lone 50 in his last 17 T20I appearances for Pakistan occurred against Australia a couple of months ago.
Hyderabad Kingsmen gears up for PSL 2026
The Hyderabad Kingsmen franchise is one of the two new teams added to the PSL roaster for the upcoming 2026 season. On the day of the PSL 2026 auction in February, the franchise acquired several cricketers in the form of Mohammad Ali, Sri Lankan star Kusal Perera, South African fast bowler Ottniel Baartman among several others.
As the Kingsmen gear up for the opening match of the tournament against Lahore Qalandars on March 26 later this week, here is a look at their entire squad for PSL 2026.
Hyderabad Kingsmen squad for PSL 2026: Marnus Labuschagne (c), Hassan Khan (vc), Usman Khan, Akif Javed, Maaz Sadaqat, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Ali, Kusal Perera, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Shayan Jahangir, Glenn Maxwell, Hammad Azam, Riley Meredith, Sharjeel Khan, Asif Mehmood, Hunain Shah, Rizwan Mehmood, Saad Ali, Tayyab Arif and Ahmed Hussain.
Also Read- Mohsin Naqvi's PCB Issues Official Statement On Players Leaving PSL For IPL
