Islamabad United – Preview
Islamabad United is one of the famous and professional T20 cricket franchise in Pakistan that plays in the Pakistan Super League. They have been playing in the tournament since the start of the season in 2015. They are one of the very first winners. The team represents the capital of Pakistan and its stadium of the home in Rawalpindi.
The whole franchise is controlled by Leonine Global Investments LGI via its subsidiary for sports Leonine Global Sports, which owned currently by Amna Naqvi and Ali Naqvi. There was no owners’ changes until now. The team includes Azhar Mahmood who is their Coach, Rehan-ul-Haq who is their General Manager. Azlan Khan as the head for Operations and Logistics, Hassan Cheema as their Strategy Manager. A number of former international cricketers, including Johan Botha were also part of their coaching team. Saeed Ajmal is their bowling coach.
Shadab Khan is their current captain. He is also the youngest, Luke Ronchi is the top scorer and Shadab Khan has been their most prolific run scorer.
Ownership History
The Leonine Global Sports is the owner of the franchise from 2015 onwards, the franchise was sold to the company for US$15 million.
The Team’s Identity as well as Sponsors and Partners
The name and logo were unveiled during a ceremony in the Islamabad Polo Club on 22 December 2015. The team’s logo is a lion, which symbolizes aggression. Islamabad United principal colors are orange, red and light brown. These colors appear on their uniforms.
The sponsor details are given below.
In 2016, the shirt front was sponsored by Dostea, front branding by Dunya News and the sleeve branding by Dostea.
In 2017, the shirt front was sponsored by QMobile, the shirt’s back was sponsored by PTCL, front branding by JS Bank and the sleeve branding by Dunya News.
In 2018, the shirt front was sponsored by Gwadar Golf City, the shirt’s back was sponsored by PTCL, front branding by Tang and the sleeve branding by Samaa News, G.F.C, and Dairy Milk.
In 2019, the shirt front sponsor was Bisconni, front branding by Fast Cables and the sleeve branding by Samaa News, Tetra Pak and Sprite.
In 2020, the shirt front sponsor was Dastak, front branding by Fast Cables and the sleeve branding by Express News and FM 101.
In 2021, the shirt front sponsor was Sabroso, the shirt’s back was sponsored by Ufone, front branding by Fast Cables and the sleeve branding by Snack Video and Tetra Pak.
In 2022, the shirt front sponsor was Sabroso, the shirt’s back was sponsored by jomo.pk, front branding by Fast Cables and the sleeve branding by DCODE, Tetra Pak and Foodpanda.
Islamabad United PSL History
PSL 2016 Season 1
After a slow start to the tournament they finished 3rd in group stage. They were then able to qualify for the knockout stage.
They were up against the team Karachi Kings in the eliminator stage and beat the team by 9 wickets. For the qualifier match Islamabad United faced Peshawar Zalmi. They were impressed by the performance of Sharjeel Khan, who recorded 117 runs from only 62 balls. This is the century for the very first time in PSL. Peshawar Zalmi while chasing the target of 176 runs got all out on 126 and then lost to 50-runs.
The Pakistan Super League 2016 Final was won by Islamabad United by six wickets, beating Quetta Gladiators. United chose to bowl first following winning the toss and the Gladiators recorded 174-7 in 20 overs.
Coach: Dean Jones
Captain: Misbah ul Haq
Most Runs: Sharjeel Khan (299)
Most Wickets: Andre Russell (16)
PSL 2017 Season 2
In PSL 2017 player’s draft, Islamabad United kept 17 players from their former team in PSL 1. Ben Duckett, Zohaib Khan and Shadab Khan were selected in the draft. Then Andre Russell was replaced by Steven Finn and Ben Duckett was substituted with Nicholas Pooran.
They won their first match of the tournament against Peshawar Zalmi. The tournament was later moved to Sharjah where they took the winning title against Quetta Gladiators, then lost to Karachi Kings, then again defeated Peshawar Zalmi, and in the next match, they were defeated by Lahore Qalandars by one wicket.
The match was relocated to Dubai and they scored an impressive win over Quetta Gladiators. Similar to last year, Islamabad United again were to take on Karachi in the final however this time, luck was for Karachi Kings because they prevailed by 42 runs. Islamabad United got all out on 84 runs while chasing a target of 126 in the final.
Coach: Dean Jones
Captain: Misbah ul Haq
Many Runs: Dwayne Smith (274)
The Most Wicked: Rumman Raees (18)
PSL 2018 Season 3
In the very first match of the tournament, Islamabad United lost against Peshawar Zalmi. They were defeated with 34 runs. They prevailed in their next game against Multan Sultans in order to gain momentum. In the following match, the league stage transferred to Sharjah in which they fell to Quetta Gladiators by 6 wickets however, in their next match with Lahore Qalandars, they won again, this time in super over. The next game they beat Karachi Kings y 8 wickets.
In the final game, Islamabad United won against Peshawar Zalmi after they managed to get the target of 149, which was set by their opponents.
Coach: Dean Jones
Captain: Misbah ul Haq
All Runs Luke Ronchi (435)
Most Wickets: Faheem Ashraf (18)
PSL 2019 Season 4
Islamabad United started their journey for this season by defeating Lahore Qalandars in the opening game after they had chased 171 runs. Then they lost their next two games in a row against Multan Sultans and Quetta Gladiators. In the following match, against Peshawar Zalmi, they prevailed at 12 runs. The next game was against Karachi Kings, captain Muhammad Sami suffered an injury due to which Shadab Khan was chosen as captain of the team. They took the game easily. The next game was against Multan Sultans, they fell by six wickets. But, they were able beat their second game in the match against Karachi Kings.
In their next games they beat Peshawar Zalmi and defeated by Quetta Gladiators, after that won a match against Lahore Qalandars and qualified for play-offs. They won against Karachi before losing in an eliminator match against Peshawar Zalmi.
Coach: Dean Jones
Captain: Mohammad Sami
More Runs Cameron Delport (355)
Most Wickets: Faheem Ashraf (21)
PSL 2020 Season 5
Islamabad United began their tournament journey against Quetta and lost by five wickets. They then won by 8 wickets from Multan Sultans, and later won against Lahore Qalandars by 1 wicket. In their fourth match they were again defeated by Quetta Gladiators. Their next game was against Peshawar Zalmi was cancelled due to rain. In their next game, they were defeated by Karachi Kings, also in their final game, they were defeated by Karachi.
The team was eliminated from the tournament, as they were unable to make it to the playoffs.
Coach: Misbah-ul-Haq
Captain: Shadab Khan
Mast Runs: Luke Ronchi (247)
Most Wickets: Shadab Khan (8)
PSL 2021 Season 6
In the current year’s season Islamabad United started their successful campaign with a win over Multan Sultans by 3 wickers. They also took their game with Karachi Kings and lost third and fourth matches with Peshawar Zalmi as well as Lahore Qalandars respectively. They recovered their momentum after winning all remaining matches and also getting into the Play-Offs.
They lost in both elimination matches in the Play-Offs and were eliminated from the tournament.
Coach: Johan Botha
Captain: Shadab Khan
Most Runs: Colin Munro (285)
Most Wickets: Hassan Ali (13)
PSL 2022 Season 7
They continued their tournament with a win over Peshawar Zalmi. Then they were defeated by Multan Sultans during their subsequent match. Their next games were a rollercoaster for them. They beat Quetta but fell to Lahore in their next match. They win their next match against Karachi and then lost to Quetta. They were able to get into the elimination phase.
Islamabad United took their first eliminator against Peshawar Zalmi, but fell in the second eliminator to Lahore Qalandars in second eliminator.
Coach: Azhar Mehmood
Captain: Shadab Khan
Most Runs: Alex Hales (355)
Most Wickets: Shadab Khan (19)
PSL 2023 Season 8
The 8th edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) is just around the corner and we couldn’t be more excited! This year’s tournament will see some new changes. The date for the 8th season of the Pakistan Super League has been revealed. PSL-8 would be conducted from February 13th to March 19th, 2023.
Lean More About Islamabad United Full Squad 2023.
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