The news has it that Imad Wasim has again been crowned as the Karachi King’s Captain. The decision has come after the franchise’s horror show in the seventh version of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). In a Twitter post made by the official franchise handle, it was confirmed that the all-rounder will again be commanding the side.
The 33-year-old first took responsibility as the Kings’ leader back in 2017 in the second version of the mega event. Under him, the Karachi tigers saw the good and the bad but nothing compares to what happened to the team when his captaincy was taken away. Here’s an analysis of what happened before and after the Karachi King’s Captain was changed and what to expect.
Imad Wasim is back as the Karachi King’s Captain
The Kings under Imad Wasim
In 2017, the left-hand batter was given charge of Salman Iqbal’s team to lead them in the second edition of the super league after the bunch managed to win just two matches in the inaugural version of the big event. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that under him, the team began to gradually thrive.
With the exception of 2018, Imad managed to take his team to the qualifiers four times. Finally, under his leadership, the franchise won its maiden trophy in PSL 5 after a one-sided battle with event rivals Lahore Qalandars. Here’s a summary of Imad Wasim as the captain of the Karachi Kings from 2017-2021
| PSL 2017 | PSL 2018 | PSL 2019 | PSL 2020 | PSL 2021 |
| Ended the group stage in the third position. Could not qualify for the semi-final | Qualified for the playoffs but lost both matches. | Qualified for the playoffs. Lost the match against Islamabad United and got eliminated. | Winners of the 5th season of PSL | Qualified for the playoffs. Eliminated after losing to Peshawar Zalmi |
Even though the team struggled in the playoffs, commanded by Imad Wasim, they were doing quite well.
The Captaincy Switch
Perhaps what the Kings’ management thought would be the best for the team turned out to be the complete opposite. For the seventh season of the league, the captaincy was handed over to the Pakistan national team captain Babar Azam. what happened next came as a shock for the fans and followers.
Batting, bowling, fielding, nothing worked for the Karachi team. Even Babar Azam who ended season 5 as the top scorer, failed to get his bat going. The team struggled from the very start and there was no answer to their problems til the very end. Karachi Kings could only register one win in a total of ten matches. It drew the ire of the fans a lot of questions were raised regarding the team’s performance.
Interesting to read: Find out which players were retained by franchises
Was it right to remove Imad Wasim as Karachi King’s Captain?
Removing Imad Wasim as the captain of the Karachi camps was probably a move that wasn’t needed at all. But why did it happen then? It was probably the over-confidence in Babar driven by the T20I World Cup 2021.
The skipper led the national side exceptionally well during the short-format World Cup. the ten-wicket loss and the qualification to the semi-final provided the entire team especially the captain with a lot of confidence. This possibly urged the management to hand over the captaincy to the 28-year-old, in hopes of clinching another PSL title.
But the entire nation saw what happened as a result. Was it Babar’s fault entirely? Absolutely not. It was a combination of weak team selection and players’ injuries that the team could not rise up to the occasion. Rumors of a not-so-friendly dressing room environment also circulated on the internet. All in all, the 6th edition of the tournament wasn’t meant to be for the Karachi Kings.
Related to PSL: Complete squads of all teams of PSL 8
Is having Imad back as the captain a good move?
It certainly is. The people at the top took a wise decision by handing back the captaincy to the left-hander especially now that Babar Azam is not part of the team anymore. The left-arm orthodox bowler had done a great job previously and it’s only right that he be given this role again.
The Karachi Kings team has been renewed and fortified with the likes of Shoaib Malik and Mathew Wade on the side. And with Johan Botha as the new head coach, this year’s team is ready to make a strong comeback, at least it’s what the fans are expecting.
Also, Read