Usman Khan and Muhammad Waseem miss out on winners’ medals after epic PSL final

Muhammad Waseem would have been forgiven for watching Monday night’s HBL Pakistan Super League final with a hint of envy.

At least one player had stolen his life for a day, if not two.

The UAE captain was picked up by Islamabad United as a replacement player in February, due reward for his brilliance as an opening batter in T20 cricket.

Yet, as they were celebrating a third PSL title on Monday night after a thrilling final against Multan Sultans, he was left to watch from afar.

Waseem was not able to take up his contract with Islamabad as the meat of the tournament clashed with the UAE’s international series against Canada and Scotland.

There was a small window of opportunity either side of national duty. However, so brief was it that Waseem did not feel he could justify making the trip.

At the beginning, he opted instead for a rapid flying visit to the Bangladesh Premier League, for one game only. Then at the end he did not fly in for the business end of the PSL, after the UAE’s drab T20 series loss to Scotland.

He might have been a welcome arrival. Two of Islamabad's three overseas openers were at odds at the time.

Englishman Alex Hales was suddenly runless as the season’s finish line approached. The single run he made in the second eliminator match against Peshawar Zalmi was his last chance in the competition.

For the final he was replaced by Martin Guptill, who had himself only made his tournament introduction in the first eliminator match in place of Colin Munro, who was struggling with a hamstring injury.

Guptill had three games to make himself a star and he took his chance. In the final, he got Islamabad’s pursuit of 160 to win off to a flying start with 50 from 32 balls. That might so easily have been Waseem