PSL 7: Ben Cutting, Usman Qadir test positive for COVID-19, set to miss playoffs

The ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022 has reached its business end with four best teams making the playoffs. The seventh season of the PSL saw many overseas players including the likes of Alex Hales, Paul Stirling withdrawing due to personal reasons, while Australian all-rounder James Faulkner left midway citing contractual and financial obligations.

The difficulties only seem to be increasing heading into the final week of PSL 2022 as two star players of Peshawar Zalmi are set to miss the playoff fixtures after being tested positive for COVID-19. Apart from them, even a member of the coaching staff is down with coronavirus as well.

As per reports in Cricket Pakistan, three members of Peshawar Zalmi are down with COVID. They are Australian all-rounder Ben Cutting, leggie Usman Qadir and team mentor Hashim Amla respectively. According to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) protocols, members who have tested positive must isolate themselves for seven days.

It is indeed a huge blow for the Peshawar-based franchise heading into the Eliminator 1 against Islamabad United at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on February 24. Unlike the Qualifier, the losing team will not get another chance and will be knocked out, while the winner of this contest would meet the loser of the Qualifier on February 25 for a place in the final.

As far as their PSL 2022 performances are concerned, Ben Cutting has amassed 197 runs in nine matches making a tremendous impact in the middle-order with a strike rate of 164.16. He is Zalmi’s second-highest run-getter. Usman Qadir, on the other hand, has registered eight scalps from seven games at an economy rate of over 10.