Shaheen’s Qalandars eye maiden PSL title

Lahore Qalandars are one of the most famous franchises in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). At the time of the auction, they were second-most expensive behind Karachi Kings after being sold for $25.1 million for the span of 10 years.

In the majority of team sports, any side’s fan following is directly related to the on-field performances. The better they are, the more fans it will attract is the mantra.

But Qalandars are one of a kind and proved that theory wrong in every sense. Their fame is clearly not down to their win record on the field. They’ve shown time and again that they know the art of losing from a winning position. Therefore, it was hardly surprising to see them languishing outside the top-four in five out of the six editions of the PSL.

Their popularity is rather down to their mercurial nature which is unlike any other team in the PSL. Just like the Pakistan cricket team, they too have, over and over again, proved that you just never know which Qalandars side will turn up on a given day.

Regardless of the results on the field, it is clear that one thing you are bound to get with a Lahore-based franchise is entertainment, entertainment and entertainment.

Tournament’s history:

Lahore Qalandars have one of the most passionate fans in the country but they’ve been left disappointed more often than not.

In the first edition, they won just two out of the eight matches and finished on the bottom of the league table. In the next campaign, they once again finished at the bottom with six points with three wins in eight encounters.

In the 2018-19 campaign, where for the first time six teams participated instead of five, Qalandars once again finished at the bottom with six points, three behind fifth-placed Multan Sultans. The same story was repeated the year after where Qalandars were bottom once again with just six points after 10 matches.

The only time they managed to cement their spot in the top-four was the 2020-21 event where they finished the first round in third place with 10 points after 10 matches and were the eventual runners up after losing to rivals Karachi Kings in the final.

The previous campaign turned out to be a nightmare for a team looking destined to win their first PSL title. Sohail Akhtar led-unit secured five wins out of the first six matches and were on top of the league table after the six rounds. However, comprehensive and consecutive defeats in the next four matches left them outside the top-four for the fifth time in six seasons.

After the six editions of the competition, they remained the team with the lowest win percentage of 39 % with just 23 wins in 59 outings.

Their best record is against Quetta Gladiators where they’ve won six out of 12 outings with a win percentage of exactly 50 whereas their worst record is against Islamabad United where they just have a win percentage of just 25% after winning three in 12 meetings.

Qalandars’ highest total in the history of PSL was 209 for the loss of five wickets which they managed to register against the Gladiators while playing at their home venue in 2020.

The franchise’s highest partnership in the competition came for the fourth-wicket between Ben Dunk and Samit Patel in the same fixture.

Top-order batter Fakhar Zaman is comfortably the leading scorer for the franchise in the history of the PSL with 1,351 runs in 50 innings at an average of 27.57 and strike-rate 133.49, which included nine half-centuries and the highest of 94. He is followed by former captain Sohail Akhtar (774) and veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez (602).

Australia’s top-order batter Chris Lynn is the only century-maker for the franchise in the history of the PSL and he has the highest individual score of 113 not out which he registered against Multan Sultans in March 2020.

Qalandars’ new captain Shaheen Shah Afridi is the leading wicket-taker for the franchise in the competition with 50 scalps to his name in 37 innings.

Strengths

Lahore Qalandars strength over the years remained their blistering bowling attack and this time it is likely to be the same. The list of bowlers present in the Qalandars’ squad often gives a feeling that let alone any league competition, they are good enough to even compete and beat the best in international cricket with some of the finest in the business available at their disposal. The pace department will be led by newly-appointed captain Shaheen Afridi and he will be accompanied by another star fast-bowler in Haris Rauf. Both can produce wicket-taking deliveries at will and are good with both new and old balls. If those two are not enough, then the teams will also have to face the leg-spin of Rashid Khan who is undoubtedly the best bowler there is in T20 cricket. If a team can take 12 overs out of the 20 from quality bowlers like Shaheen, Haris and Rashid, there isn’t much room left for any opposition to take advantage from. The inclusion of left-arm pacer Akif Javed and Mohammad Imran Randhawa will also provide a much-needed cover for the front-line pacers. The other spin options are also decent in the face Mohammad Hafeez and Samit Patel. Another strength is the team’s strong top-order where the likes Fakhar Zaman and Abdullah Shafique have the ability to become one of the best opening pairs in the competition.

Weakness:

By the look of it, Lahore Qalandars does not have that many weaknesses in the squad but one area they are likely to struggle is the lack of players who are good with the anchoring role. The presence of Mohammad Hafiz, Samit Patel and David Wiese might distract some that the team have a more than capable middle and lower middle-order but that might not be the case whenever the side will suffer losses at the start of the innings. It is precisely for this reason, they opted to make a move for Kamran Ghulam who is not a renowned name in white-ball cricket in Pakistan and is rather famous for his heroics in the four-day format. The partial absence of wicketkeeper-batter Ben Dunk might prove to be another weak line for Qalandars as he remained pivotal in the team’s success during the 2020 campaign which was the only time when the side managed to cement their place in the final of the competition.

One of the biggest weaknesses for Qalandars over the years has been their coaching staff led by former Pakistan pacer Aaqib Javed. In a franchise-based model, it is hard to remember any coaching setup given as many opportunities as Lahore’s hierarchy did to their coaching staff despite failures after failures. Therefore, it will be interesting to see if they have what it takes to turn the corner around this time and help the side in producing a better display.

Players to watch out for:

Abdullah Shafique:

Abdullah Shafique will be the player most people would love to watch in the PSL 2022. The right-hander has been rated very highly in the cricketing circles in Pakistan and he finally showcased his talent in the 2021 National T20 Cup where he was playing for Balochistan. In a team comprised of hard-hitting players from top to bottom, Shafique fits the bill perfectly and he will be eager to prove his worth in Pakistan’s premier T20 competition.

The 22-year-old has a more than impressive record in the 20-over format where he has managed to score 658 runs in 20 innings at an average of 38.70 along with the strike-rate of 131.07, which included one century and four fifties.

Zaman Khan:

Zaman Khan is an interesting pick in the squad comprised of a number of promising fast-bowlers. The right-arm pacer emerged onto the scene during the first edition of the Kashmir Premier League (KPL) last year where he was the breakout star of the competition.

Zaman had an action that reminds people of Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga and has the ability to bowl Yorkers at will which makes him an asset for Qalandars in the PSL 2022.

The Mirpur-born has till now played five official T20s in his career where he has managed to claim six wickets with the best of 3-31.

Predictions:

Lahore Qalandars inconsistency over the years makes it extremely hard to predict their performance in the upcoming edition despite having a very decent squad on paper.

This year, looking at the overall squad composition, it is very hard to see them not playing in one of the playoffs as clearly there are at least two teams who are likely to have an inferior squad compared to them.

However, with a new captain in charge in Shaheen Afridi and a weak coaching staff, another failure to book a place in the last four should not come as a major surprise.

Fixtures:

Lahore Qalandars will play their first match against the defending champions on January 29 at the National Stadium Karachi.

The mouth-watering clash against Karachi Kings will take place on January 30 whereas the return-leg will be played in Lahore on February 18.

The side’s last fixture league will be against Peshawar Zalmi which is scheduled to be played on February 21.

Squad:

Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Rashid Khan, David Wiese, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohail Akhtar, Zeeshan Ashraf, Ahmed Daniyal, Fakhar Zaman, Phil Salt, Harry Brook, Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam, Dean Foxcroft, Zaman Khan, Maaz Khan, Samit Patel, Syed Faridoun

Supplementary round: Mohammad Imran Randhawa, Akif Javed

Partial replacement: Ben Dunk

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