Lahore Qalandars – Preview
Lahore Qalandars is a professional T20 cricket franchise in Pakistan that plays in the Pakistan Super League. They’ve been participating in this tournament since the start of its inaugural season in 2015. They were additionally the champions from PSL 7, 2022. The team represents the capital in Punjab, as well as their main stadium, which is the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore.
The Lahore Qalandars franchise is currently controlled by Rana Brothers, it is also the second highest-priced franchise in the PSL following Multan Sultans. The coach currently in charge of Lahore Qalandars is Aqib, who has been with the team since Season 1. Shaheen Afridi is the captain of Lahore and is also the youngest captain to take the PSL title.
Fakhar Zaman has been the top scorer of runs for the team and Shaheen Afridi gets the many wickets for the team.
Ownership History
Lahore Qalandars was bought by Kausar Rana Resources Private Limited Company for US$25.1 million, which was owned by the famous Rana Brothers, Jawad Rana, and Fawad Rana. It was the second expensive purchase following Karachi Kings at that time.
The Team’s Identity as well as Sponsors and Partners
This franchise officially opened on December 12, 2015, with the help of Fawad Rana. The letter ‘Q’ on the Qalandars is associated with Qatar in addition to QALCO. The name itself, Qalandar, symbolized Qalandar’s Sufi tradition from Pakistan as well as Lahore. The logo was created keeping Sufism in mind. It displays a beautiful blend of cricket as well as Sufism.
The details of the sponsor are listed below.
The Kit maker of Lahore Qalandars is Millat Sports in all seasons, the shirt front sponsor was Jazz from 2016-2017. In 2016, the shirt’s back was sponsored by Al-Karam Textiles, Chest branding by GEO News and the sleeve branding by QALCO and Mobilink.
In 2017, the shirt front sponsor was Jazz, the shirt’s back was sponsored by Al-Karam Textiles, Chest branding by GEO News and the sleeve branding by QALCO, Hawawei and Royal Palm.
In 2018, the shirt front sponsor was EcoStar, the shirt’s back was sponsored by Gree, chest branding by GEO News and the sleeve branding by Bank of Punjab, ZXMCO and Royal Palm. In 2019, the shirt front sponsor was EcoStar, the shirt’s back was sponsored by Mughal Steel, chest branding by GEO News and the sleeve branding by QALCO and Lays.
In 2020, the shirt front sponsor was EcoStar, the shirt’s back was sponsored by Hashmi Ispaghol, chest branding by GEO News and the sleeve branding by Mughal Steel.
In 2021, the shirt front sponsor was B4U Cabs, the shirt’s back was sponsored by Bravo Super Market, chest branding by GEO News and the sleeve branding by Mughal Steel and Revolt. In 2022, the shirt front sponsor was Marina Sports, the shirt’s back was sponsored by Al-Jalil Garden, chest branding by Mughal Steel and the sleeve branding by Bank of Punjab, AirSial and Kausar Rana Trust.
Pakistan Super League History
PSL 2016 Season 1
In the initial season Lahore Qalandars recruited a number of star players including Chris Gayle, Umar Akmal, and Dwayne Bravo. The team started the tournament in a shaky way losing two games against Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi. Then they scored their first win in the tournament in the match against Quetta Gladiators. They won only two of the eight games in the group stage and were eliminated when they finished in the bottom position of the points table.
Umar Akmal of Lahore Qalandars was the top run-scorer of the tournament. He was awarded the “Best Batsman” award. The batsman scored 335 runs, which included four fifties. Qalandars also received the “Spirit of the Game” award, as well as the “Fair play award”.
Coach: Paddy Upton
Captain: Azhar Ali
Most Runs: Umar Akmal (335)
Most Wickets: Zafar Gohar (7)
PSL 2017 Season 2
The team was overhauled in a major way the team following their disappointing performance in the opening season. Chris Gayle was exchanged with Sohail Tanveer from Karachi Kings, Sohaib Maqsood, and Aamir Yamin of Peshawar Zalmi. They also signed an agreement with Brendon McCullum and signed McCullum as captain of the team. New players such as Sunil Narine as well as Yasir Shah were picked and they were given a fresh lineup.
They won three matches but lost 5 of their 8 matches. They were last on the point list and ended the season with a poor performance.
Coach: Paddy Upton
Captain: Brendon McCullum
Most Runs: Fakhar Zaman (177)
Most Wickes: Sunil Narine (10)
PSL 2018 Season 3
Lahore Qalandars once again came together and introduced some changes to the squad. They were not able to sustain the momentum, after losing 3 of their first three games to Multan Sultans, Karachi Kings, and Quetta Gladiators. They won only three of their 10 matches, but lost the remaining seven and finished last in the points table, with just 6 points.
Coach: Aaqib Javed
Captain: Brendon McCullum
Most Runs: Fakhar Zaman (277)
Most Wickets: Yasir Shah (11)
PSL 2019 Season 4
The major shuffle of players was carried out by Lahore Qalandars management before the beginning of the 4th season. 12 new players and big names like Muhammad Hafeez, AB De Villiers, Corey Anderson, David Wiese, etc were added. The additions were made to give the team a needed boost, but all was in vain when the team was about to deliver another disappointing performance on the field.
They were ranked last in the points table with points. They won just 3 of 10 matches and lost the rest of seven matches.
Coach: Aaqib Javed
Captain: Mohammad Hafeez/AB De Villiers/Fakhar Zaman
Most Runs: Fakhar Zaman (285)
Most Wickets: Sandeep Lamichhane (11)
PSL 2020 Season 5
After four seasons of disappointing results, the fans and management were quite upset with the team’s performance. However, Lahore Qalandars did their best and made it to the playoffs again as they finished 3rd at the stage of group play, with five wins in 10 games.
In the Play-offs, they took out Peshawar Zalmi in the first round of elimination and then defeated Multan Sultans in elimination 2 to make it into the final game. In the final, they fell to their rivals Karachi Kings by 5 wickets and finished as runners-up in the tournament.
Coach: Aaqib Javed
Captain: Sohail Akhtar
Most Runs: Chris Lynn (284)
Most Wicked: Shaheen Afridi (13)
PSL 2021 Season 6
Lahore Qalandars took an excellent start in the sixth edition of the Pakistan Super League when they took their first four games consecutively, however, due to COVID-19 issues within Pakistan, PSL was postponed and resumed on June 20, 2021. The interruption was negative for LQ since they won only one game of the remaining six games and were eliminated from the competition. They finished 5th in the points table.
Coaching: Aaqib Javed
Captain: Sohail Akhtar
Most Runs: Fakhar Zaman (287)
Most Wickets Shaheen Afridi (16)
PSL 2022 Season 7
It was the time for Lahore Qalandars, as they were on the verge of becoming champions. They began their campaign with Multan Sultans, which they fell. They then won their next match against Peshawar Zalmi by 29 runs. They finished second in the points table, with 6 wins and 4 losses in 10 games, and qualified for play-offs.
They were defeated by Multan Sultans in the qualifier match, but they won the elimination game with Islamabad United to qualify for the finals. In the final, they had to play Multan Sultans again but this time they beat them by 42 runs, securing the PSL trophy for the first time.
Coach: Aaqib Javed
Captain Shaheen Afridi
Most Runs: Fakhar Zaman (588)
The Most Wicked: Shaheen Afridi (20)
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 Lahore Qalandars Full Squad 2023.
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