Gladiators seeking the right team combination: Saud Shakeel

LAHORE: Captain Saud Shakeel on Tuesday admitted that Quetta Gladiators could not produce the performance they exhibited in the last edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League due to what he termed lack of the right team combination.

“In order to find the right combination we have been making three to four changes in every match but [unfortunately] we could not get it [right]. We are also missing a genuine all-rounder who could bat at No.7,” Saud said at the post-match media conference.

Gladiators are now on the brink of missing the play-off after losing their sixth match of the league to Lahore Qalandars by nine runs here on Tuesday.

He said as a group his team could not be settled in the ongoing addition.

“In the next edition we will try to pick the best combination,” the skipper stated.

Commenting on the match against Qalandars, Saud said Rilee Rossouw had made the match for his team with his brilliant batting but lost his wicket at a crucial stage from where Gladiators could go on to win the game.

“Rossouw’s departure was the turning point, otherwise, our team was in a position to win.”

Answering a question regarding the performance of key spinners Abrar Ahmed and Usman Tariq who have not come up to the expectations so far in the ongoing PSL, Saud defended the former while reckoned the latter could introduce variety in his bowling.

”We always used Abrar at crucial stages. As other batsmen give him respect they face him carefully and that’s why he is not taking many wickets,” Saud said.

“Yes, Usman has to adopt new varieties in his bowling. [Rival] batters may have picked his bowling action and [therefore] not giving him wickets easily [anymore],” the captain said.

Meanwhile, Qalandars leg-spinner Usama Mir said that though he was not part of the franchise in the last edition, his team was facing the same situation of winning the last three matches to qualify for the play-offs.

“Our focus is on our next two matches. The simple task is to give our best performance and win the remaining two matches, like we did in today’s match,” the lanky bowler said.

In Lahore, he noted, the pitches were friendlier for batters as compared to Karachi, where spinners were performing relatively better.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2026

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