2016 Karachi Kings season
# 2016 Karachi Kings season

The Karachi Kings is a franchise cricket team that represents Karachi in the Pakistan Super League. They are one of the five teams that had a competition in the 2016 Pakistan Super League. The team was captained by Shoaib Malik and then by Ravi Bopara, and they stand on fourth position after winning just two matches from their eight matches in the PSL 2016.

## Background

Karachi Kings is a franchise cricket team representing Karachi, which plays in the PSL. In 2015, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that the inaugural season of the Pakistan Super League would take place in February 2016 in the United Arab Emirates. Team is owned by the ARY Group which bought it for US$26 Million for 10 years. It finished the inaugural season of PSL at fourth position.

### Team anthem

Anthem for the team "Dilon Ke Hum Hain Badshah" was sung by Ali Azmat. It was released on 8 January 2016, and its music video was released on 30 January 2016.

## Squad

* Players with international caps before the start of the 2016 PSL season are listed in bold

| Name | Nationality | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Batsmen |||||
| Iftikhar Ahmed | Pakistan | Right-handed | Right-arm off spin | |
| Nauman Anwar | Pakistan | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Part-time wicket-keeper |
| Lendl Simmons | West Indies | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Overseas |
| Shahzaib Hasan | Pakistan | Right-handed | Right-arm leg spin | |
| Fawad Alam | Pakistan | Left-handed | Slow Left-arm Orthodox | |
| James Vince | England | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Overseas |
| Owais Shah | England | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | Overseas |
| All-rounders |||||
| Imad Wasim | Pakistan | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |
| Ravi Bopara | England | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | Captain/Overseas |
| Shoaib Malik | Pakistan | Right-handed | Right-arm off spin | Captain/Icon Player |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan | Sri Lanka | Right-handed | Right-arm off spin | Overseas |
| Shakib Al Hasan | Bangladesh | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | Overseas |
| Bilawal Bhatti | Pakistan | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | |
| Ryan ten Doeschate | Netherlands | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | Overseas |
| Sohail Tanvir | Pakistan | Left-handed | Left-arm fast-medium | |
| Wicket-keepers |||||
| Mushfiqur Rahim | Bangladesh | Right-handed | — | Overseas |
| Riki Wessels | England | Right-handed | — | Overseas |
| Saifullah Bangash | Pakistan | Right-handed | — | |
| Bowlers |||||
| Sohail Khan | Pakistan | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | |
| Mohammad Amir | Pakistan | Left-handed | Left-arm fast | |
| Usama Mir | Pakistan | Right-handed | Right-arm Leg spin | |
| Mir Hamza | Pakistan | Right-handed | Left-arm medium fast | |

Source: CricInfo

## Season summary

Shoaib Malik was the Captain of the Kings in 2016 Season. Kings during draft Day 1 and 2 picked international players like Shoaib Malik, Fawad Alam, Shakib Al Hasan, Ravi Bopara, Imad Wasim, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Amir, TM Dilshan, Lendl Simmons, Shahzaib Hasan, Sohail Khan, Bilawal Bhatti and Mushfiqur Rahim. Kings kicked off their campaign with an easy win against Lahore Qalandars at Dubai International Cricket Stadium due to Mohammad Amir's Hat-trick. Kings restricted Qalandars on 125 for 8 and won the match by 7 Wickets. They played their second match against Quetta Gladiators defeated Kings by eight wickets. Kings, while batting first set 148 run target. Kings failed to defend the target and lost with in 17th over of the game. The tournament does not went well for them as they lost six out of eight matches played finishing 4th however qualifying above Lahore Qalandars who won same number of matches but Kings having better net run rate qualified for the play-offs. Shoaib Malik stepped down from captaincy of Karachi Kings a day before this match and Ravi Bopara was named his successor. On 20th Feb 2016 they played a 2nd playoff - eliminator against Islamabad United things does not went well for them losing the toss sent into bat first by United they were restricted on the lowest score of the tournament (111). Ravi Bopara playing his first match as new Captain of the side was the highest run scorer he made 36 from 37. Disappointment followed them in the bowling as well as they could not stop United's batsmen scoring free runs and were easily crushed by nine wickets in the 15th over of the game only wicket-taker for the side was Sohail Khan as a result from this defeat they were eliminated from the tournament.

### Season standings

Karachi Kings finished fourth in the points table of 2016 Pakistan Super League.

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Peshawar Zalmi (3rd) | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0.573 |
| 2 | Quetta Gladiators (R) | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0.216 |
| 3 | Islamabad United (C) | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | −0.282 |
| 4 | Karachi Kings (4th) | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | −0.036 |
| 5 | Lahore Qalandars | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | −0.536 |

* Top 4 teams qualified for the Playoffs
* Advanced to Qualifier
* Advanced to Eliminator 1

Notes:

* C = Champions;
* R = Runner-up;
* (x) = Position at the end of the tournament;

### Match log

| No. | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorecard link |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 5 February | Lahore Qalandars | Dubai International Cricket Stadium | Won by 7 wickets | Scorecard |
| 2 | 6 February | Quetta Gladiators | Dubai International Cricket Stadium | Lost by 8 wickets | Scorecard |
| 3 | 7 February | Islamabad United | Dubai International Cricket Stadium | Lost by 2 runs | Scorecard |
| 4 | 11 February | Peshawar Zalmi | Sharjah Cricket Stadium | Lost by 3 runs | Scorecard |
| 5 | 12 February | Lahore Qalandars | Sharjah Cricket Stadium | Won by 27 runs | Scorecard |
| 6 | 13 February | Quetta Gladiators | Sharjah Cricket Stadium | Lost by 5 wickets | Scorecard |
| 7 | 14 February | Islamabad United | Sharjah Cricket Stadium | Lost by 5 wickets | Scorecard |
| 8 | 17 February | Peshawar Zalmi | Dubai International Cricket Stadium | Lost by 5 wickets | Scorecard |
| 9 | 20 February | Islamabad United (Eliminator) | Dubai International Cricket Stadium | Lost by 9 wickets | Scorecard |
