PSL 2022 winners Lahore Qalandars celebrated the achievements of their young captain Shaheen Shah Afridi by organizing an event and rewarding him with a brand new car for his performances for the franchise. The gift was presented by Lahore Qaladndars’ CEO Atif Rana on 13th June.

The Qalandars had a turbulent beginning in the tournament as they finished at the bottom spot for four successive seasons, but the franchise hit their stride in 2022 and lifted their maiden PSL trophy under the leadership of Shaheen. The 22-year-old has not only excelled in the tournament but has also been sensational for the national team on the international stage.

“Shaheen started his career with us, and we believed in him and decided to give him the captaincy of Lahore Qalandars because deep down we knew about Shaheen’s passion and believed in him that he can lead the team very well, and everyone saw the results of it, so we thank him for his performance,” Rana said at the event.

After the overwhelming love he received, Shaheen thanked the franchise for believing in him and helping him transform into a successful leader. “I always feel proud to play for my own team, everyone supported me here, and from the emerging category to the captaincy of Lahore Qalandars, it’s all because of your support, so thank you so much,” the left-arm quick said.

A token of appreciation to OUR CAPTAIN QALANDAR @iShaheenAfridi .
Thank you for being such a good example of how talent combined with great efforts pays off.
Keep up the great work!!#DamaDamMast #MainHoonQalandar #Dilse #CaptainQalandar pic.twitter.com/i0bqiOiqzx

— Lahore Qalandars (@lahoreqalandars) June 15, 2022

Feel proud to call Shaheen our captain: Head Coach Aaqib Javed

Afridi joined the franchise in 2018 as an 18-year-old and has been a revelation ever since. Former Pakistani cricketer and current head coach of Lahore, Aaqib Javed also lavished high praises on the pacer’s impact and his tremendous skills.

“Whenever I saw Shaheen, the thing that comes to my mind is that God blessed him with good skills, luck, and personality, we really feel proud to call him our captain and our leader, I wish him luck for his future,” Javed said.

Last month, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) introduced the first-ever Pakistan Junior League (PJL) with the intention of nurturing young talents at grassroot level. The same was confirmed by the Chairman of the national cricket board Ramiz Raja as he explained how it would go a long way in the well-being of the untapped talents.

It has been reported that some of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises are not convinced with PJL and they have reportedly threatened to protest against the same. Meanwhile, three franchises have come forward expressing their interest in buying teams in Pakistan Junior League. As per reports, the PSL franchises who are against the new programme PJL fear that it might affect that brand going forward.

We just wanted to be part of the race: PSL team official

“We are definitely not happy with the PJL. The reason for submitting an expression of interest is that we do not want other parties to come and buy teams as it can affect us in future. Before PJL, a private league took away two of our sponsors and it could happen again”, said a PSL team official while speaking to Cricket Pakistan.

“The fact is that the submission of interest does not mean that we are necessarily buying a team, we just wanted to be part of the race,” he added.

Earlier this week, the PCB announced that the inaugural edition of the PJL will be hosted in Lahore from October 1 to 15 that will be featuring six teams. However, with the PSL franchises concerned about their brand value and sponsorships, it remains to be seen how the tournament will be conducted smoothly.

While coming up with this new programme for the betterment of the budding cricketers in the neighboring country, the Pakistan Cricket Board had also made announcements in its press release urging for sponsorship requests for multiple tournament rights that include the title sponsorship, live-streaming, category sponsorships, team franchises, etc.

After the grand success of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja has proposed a new model which according to him will take the country’s franchise T20 league to even greater heights. The 1992 World Cup-winning player is looking forward to replacing the draft system with the auction model starting next year.

Meanwhile, Raja has also found support from veteran Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik. Giving further clarification on the same, Malik said that the auction model will be very handy in attracting big players in the future. At the same time, he has also mentioned that this innovative strategy will go a long way in further increasing the PSL’s brand value.

We have taken giant strides in making PSL better: Shoaib Malik

“We have taken giant strides in making HBL PSL better, but if we have to take it to the IPL level, then we should consider moving from the drafting to auction model to attract the biggest stars of the game,” said Malik while speaking to CricWick.

“I know IPL is a developed product, and it started many years before PSL, but I feel that we can now move towards this model to increase the brand value further. We can put a limitation on the salary cap or something, but this is the need of the hour,” he added.

Meanwhile, the profit of this year’s PSL jumped to 71 percent which is the most in the history of the competition ever since its inception in 2016. The Multan Sultans were the defending champions and made a consecutive final appearance but, went down to the Lahore Qalandars by 42 runs.

Even Shoaib Malik had participated in this year’s Pakistan Super League. In fact, he finished as the fourth-highest run-getter in the competition having amassed 401 runs from 11 matches averaging 44.55 and a strike rate of 137.32. He played a key role in Peshawar Zalmi making the knockouts where they lost to Islamabad United in Eliminator one.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja has hinted that the Pakistan Super League (PSL) might ditch the draft system from the next season. He is looking to replace the draft system with the auction model through which the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been immensely successful since its inception in 2008.

Ramiz Raja is of the opinion that the PSL model has to switch to auction from next year, however, he wants to discuss it first with the franchises. According to him, the timing is perfect and the time has come for the PCB to create financially independent properties.

“We need to create new properties to be financially independent. We have nothing for now but the PSL and ICC funds. There’s an argument over the model from next year; I want to switch it to an auction model from next year. The market forces are conducive, but we’ll sit down with the franchise owners to discuss it,” he said while speaking to ESPNCricinfo.

This is a game of money, says Ramiz

Ramiz Raja also feels that Pakistan cricket’s respect will go a notch higher if more money if involved in the PSL. He is confident that if the PSL turns to auction model and the purse for the franchises is increased, it will certainly help the T20 tournament compete with the rival IPL or even go past it.

“This is a game of money. When the cricket economy grows in Pakistan, our respect will rise. The main driver of that financial economy is the PSL. If we take the PSL to auction model, increase the purse, then I’ll put it in the IPL bracket. And then we’ll see who goes to play the IPL over the PSL,” the PCB Chairman added.

The 59-year-old is also looking forward to adopt a home and away structure in the PSL from next season. This means the tournament will be played at more venues unlike this year when only Lahore and Karachi hosted all matches.

“We want the PSL to be on a home and away basis from next year. The gate money will be excellent, and we want to elevate the concept of the PSL. Every side’s purse will increase, and if they want to improve they’ll have to spend money.

“When you go from a draft system to this, the world’s talent suddenly becomes available to you. I’ve spoken to a couple of the franchise owners; they’re quite happy to experiment with this. I’ll talk to the others, too. It’s in the embryonic stages, but it’s top of my wish list,” Ramiz further added.

The 2022 Pakistan Super League champions, Lahore Qalandars, have recently demanded a brand-new stadium in Lahore. The demand was first raised by Atif Rana who is the chief executive of the Qalandars. Rana feels that the Gaddafi Stadium cannot do justice to the fans wanting to watch their team play live and a new stadium with at least a capacity of 80,000 people is the need of the hour.

He thinks that a bigger stadium is important considering the passion and interest of the fans. As per Rana, even though the stadium was jam-packed, there were still a large number of people who could not get into the stadium for the finals of the PSL seven due to its capacity.

“Gaddafi Stadium was not big enough for HBLPSL 7. In the final match, almost the same number of spectators that were present inside the stadium were also present outside. Looking at the passion and interest of the fans having a new bigger stadium is essential,” said Rana as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.

Having a stadium with a capacity of 27,000 people does not do justice: Lahore Qalandars coach Aqib Javed

The need for a bigger stadium was further endorsed by Qalandars’ coach, Aqib Javed, who elaborated further on the matter. Javed while mentioning the population of Lahore being close to 20 million, suggested that a stadium with the capacity to hold 27,000 spectators cannot do justice. He revealed that the franchisee is already working on the said matter.

“Lahore Qalandars is working on this matter, and further progress will be seen in the days to come. Lahore is a highly populated city of 20 million people, having a stadium with a capacity of 27,000 people does not do justice. The fan base of Lahore is not limited to only Lahore it is spread out throughout Pakistan,” said Javed.

The PSL this year was a major success for the Pakistan Cricket Board and Qalandars defeated 2021 champions, Multan Sultans, in the finals to win their maiden title.

Babar Azam is keen to bring his A-game out as Pakistan host Australia in the first Test of the three-match series. The encounter gets underway on Friday (March 4) at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. With the likes of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Nathan Lyon starring in Australia’s bowling attack, no run will come easy for Pakistan and Azam is aware of the same.

Notably, Azam led Karachi Kings in the recently-concluded Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022, where the side endured a horrendous campaign. With nine defeats in 10 games, the Kings finished at the last place in the team standings. Notably, this was Azam’s maiden assignment as Karachi skipper as he replaced all-rounder Imad Wasim ahead of the season.

I worked hard on my game: Babar Azam

He even did well with the bat, scoring 343 runs in 10 outings. However, his contributions didn’t help the Karachi-based much. Nonetheless, Azam is determined to find his groove against the Aussies. “Ups and downs are part of the game. I hope to get back in the top groove during the Test series against Australia,” Azam told reporters on the eve of the game.

“Whatever time I had at my disposal, I worked hard on my game and hopefully would be in best of form in the series,” he added. Notably, this is Australia’s first assignment on Pakistan soil since 1998. Hence, many eyes will be on this series and both sides must leave stones unturned to get the favourable result.

“It is a huge honour to play this series since the trophy has been named after legends of the game Richie Benaud and Abdul Qadir. As a team we are very excited that Australia are touring after 24 years, we want to make this a memorable series and the entire squad remains focused and determined to deliver the goods,” asserted Azam.

“Our fans have been strength for us in the recent past, they have come to cheer us, shown their love and support through social media and have backed us by watching us on their TV screens. My request would be for them to turn up at the venue and give us full backing and support,” he further added.

Fakhar Zaman might have failed to make it matter in the final for the Lahore Qalandars against the former champions Multan Sultans walking back to the pavilion with just three runs to his name but, the elegant opener had a memorable Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022 finishing as the leading run-scorer having amassed 588 runs in 13 matches.

While Zaman was one of the key performers in the Qalandars’ PSL 2022 triumph, he has lately come forward and shared a hilarious moment where two of his die-hard fans had posed for a selfie with the southpaw. However, what really stands out here is that it was a long-distance selfie and even though the fans did not get an opportunity to meet the Pakistan cricketer, they at least obliged by tagging him on social media.

Fakhar Zaman shares a hilarious fan moment on social media

It so happened that during the summit clash, one of those two fans took to social media and posted an image paying tribute to Fakhar Zaman whom they had clicked while he was fielding at the boundary in the second innings. The image was hilariously captioned as ‘Selfie With Fakhar Zaman’. Nonetheless, when it came to Fakhar’s notice, he gave them a special mention by sharing the same on social media and captioning it as ‘It was nice to meet you’ with a laughing emoji.

It was nice to meet you 😆 https://t.co/vPxWvjqbmq

— Fakhar Zaman (@FakharZamanLive) March 3, 2022

Coming back to the PSL seven final, while the southpaw did fail with the bat, he made up for it on the field running out an in-form Shan Masood early just when it appeared as if he was going to cut loose in the final over of the Powerplay. That wicket was arguably the turning point of the contest as the Sultans ran out of fire and brimstone thereafter in their stiff run chase of 181.

The middle-order duo of Khushdil Shah and Tim David did add 51 runs for the sixth-wicket stand but, once the duo was dismissed, it was curtains down for them as the last edition’s winners failed to retain their title. Multan Sultans were skittled for 138 with three balls to spare and Lahore Qalandars were crowned champions by 42 runs.

The Pakistan Super League has established itself as probably the second-best T20 league in the world. Even after having limited teams and resources, the tournament organizers have done a spectacular job by hosting the tournament on home soil. This will pave the way for more cricket in the country.

Even though most of the players who take part in the PSL often do not make it to the Indian Premier League, they do put up spectacular performances in the chances they get elsewhere. But, in this case, we are looking at those players who are scheduled to be a part of the toughest T20 league in the world, the IPL. After the mega auction, things have turned around for some teams.

With the arrival of two new teams, there is now more scope for players to shine. This will allow them to increase their worth as well. As IPL is way tougher than PSL and the pressure is significantly higher, only a few international players can step up. Let us look at the –

Top performers in PSL who might shine in this year’s IPL

5. David Willey: Royal Challengers Bangalore

The English cricketers have hugely benefitted from their experience of playing in tough conditions. Being a regular member of the 15 man squad, David Willey has done the right thing by playing for Multan Sultans to take part in the PSL. This time, he was a part of a strong Multan Side that went on to put up some commendable performances to reach the finals

Willey played eight matches and picked 13 wickets for the Sultans. He was effective right up front as his economy of 8.15 shows that. Adding on, he is a useful batter as well.

This time around, he will play for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. With so many big names like Kohli, Maxwell, and Faf around, he can improve his game significantly. It will be interesting to see how RCB’s new captain will use Willey.

4. Alex Hales: Kolkata Knight Riders

It is surprising how time changes quickly. Finally, Alex Hales makes it to the Indian Premier League and now, his national captain, Eoin Morgan goes unsold. Well, it is somehow justified as Morgan has been out of form recently.

Hales, even after putting up solid performances, was overlooked by the franchises. He has been an excellent performer in the BBL, T20 Blast, and PSL. But when it came to the IPL, he was underused. This meant that the stats were never in his favor.

But, this time, we might see him open the batting alongside Iyer. The dynamic right-hand-left-hand combination can create havoc at the top. With 355 runs at a strike rate of 147.30, Hales was phenomenal with the bat for Islamabad.

3. Tim David: Mumbai Indians

This time, Mumbai Indians have tried to invest in the future. After a quiet first day, they went berserk by going for Ishan Kishan, Jofra Archer, and Tim David. Since last year, Tim has been one of the most prolific players in the format.

Tim can destroy any bowling attack on his day. Even though he failed to capitalize on his chances during the second half of the tournament, he was phenomenal in BBL and PSL. For Multan, he scored 278 runs from 143 balls in the tournament.

As he is in a team that looks to dominate, Tim can play with more freedom. He is a part-time bowler as well. This time around, Mumbai has a thin middle order, hence, a lot will depend on how Tim performs this time around.

2. Chris Jordan: Chennai Super Kings

Chris Jordan has been a part of Eoin Morgan’s side since the 2015 World Cup. He is a terrific contributor who can provide crucial breakthroughs with the ball. This time around, he has made it to the CSK squad.

With Karachi Kings having their worst season in their history, Jordan’s performance was impressive. The English bowler picked nine wickets in five games for Babar Azam’s side. This shows that he can be a part of the CSK side by playing the role Josh Hazlewood used to play.

With the bat, he has a decent T20I strike rate of 132.1. Hence, if given proper chances, he can score some valuable runs down the order. Adding on, the highest score of 36 shows his ability to play those brisk and quick innings as well.

1. Rashid Khan: Gujarat Titans 

This was a no-brainer as the best player in the format will boss the league with the ball. The only reason he had a relatively poor IPL season was probably because of poor management from SRH. Rashid Khan is the biggest asset for any T20 team and this makes him a legend of the format at a young age.

 He can torture the batters with his variations and can win games in any situation. During the recently concluded PSL, he bowled at an economy of 6.24 runs per over. There was no clue from the batters how to dominate Rashid.

With the bat, he can score some useful runs down the order as well. Gujarat’s team also has Hardik Pandya as a skipper, who can destroy any bowling lineup on his day. It will be interesting to see how Hardik uses Rashid this IPL.

Australia will take on Pakistan in a three-match Test series that is scheduled to begin on 4th March 2022. And, ahead of the series, Aussie cricketer Usman Khawaja said that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is the strongest tournament in the world.

Khawaja also made it clear that there is no contest between the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the IPL, as the IPL is the only tournament in the world that features Indian players. Khawaja said that this fact makes the IPL the best league in the world.

“Obviously, IPL is the strongest in the world. There’s not really a contest here (between PSL and the IPL), because at the end of the day, they have all the world come to them and it is the only league in the world to have Indian cricketers. So, it ends up becoming the best league in the world,” said Khawaja in the pre-match press conference ahead of the 1st Test match between Australia and Pakistan.

IPL 2022 will kickstart on 26th March 2022

The 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will commence on 26th March 2022, with last year’s finalists, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) locking horns in the opening match of the tournament.

The tournament will also feature 10 teams this time, as two new IPL franchises, Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans have been added to the league. While the Lucknow side will be led by KL Rahul, the Gujarat Titans have appointed Hardik Pandya as the skipper of the side for IPL 2022.

The 15th edition of the IPL will run for more than 2 months, with the summit clash of the Indian T20 League slated to take place on 29th May 2022. The tournament is set to be held in the state of Maharashtra this year.

The seventh season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) is finally concluded and there is a new Champion. Lahore Qalandars won their maiden title as young Shaheen Afridi led the team brilliantly both as a leader and as a bowler. At 21 years, Afridi became the youngest captain ever to win a T20 title in franchise cricket. The record was previously held by Australia’s Steve Smith when he won the Big Bash title for Sydney Sixers in the year 2012 at the age of 22.

Lahore Qalandars defeated defending champions Multan Sultans in the final by 42 runs to get their hands on the elusive trophy. The tournament saw plenty of records broken with Fakhar Zaman, in particular, stealing the limelight throughout the seventh edition. Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Shadab Khan, and Khushdil Shah are some of the other names who performed consistently well in PSL 7.

Qalandars swashbuckling opener Fakhar Zaman didn’t only score the most runs in PSL 7 but he also became the batter with the most runs in a single edition of PSL history which is 588. The flamboyant left-handed batter notched up one hundred and seven fifties in this year’s season. Zaman’s average was 45.23 and strike rate 152.72 with the highest score of 106. Islamabad United’s skipper Shadab Khan smashed 268 runs with the highest score of 91 and took 19 wickets in Pakistan’s most entertaining T20 league.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from PSL 2022:

 588 – Fakhar Zaman ended the tournament as the leading run-scorer. With 546 runs, Mohammad Rizwan finished on the second spot.

20 – Sensational Shaheen Afridi took 20 wickets in PSL 7, the most by any bowler. Shadab Khan with 19 scalps ended up second on the list.

588 – Zaman’s 588 runs are the most by any batter in a single PSL season. He went past Babar Azam’s tally of 554 runs which he achieved in last year’s season.

245/3 – Multan Sultans recorded the second-highest total in the PSL history. They posted the massive total in the 25^th match against Quetta Gladiators. The highest score is by Islamabad United 247/2 against Peshawar Zalmi in 2021.

103 – Wahad Riaz reached the landmark of 100 PSL wickets. He became the first bowler to achieve the feat. With 81 scalps, Hasan Ali is second on the list.

18 – Paul Stirling, Tim David, and Mohammad Haris all slammed the fifties in just 18 balls and all are now joint-second in the list of fastest half-centuries in PSL history.

48 – Harry Brook smashed the second-fastest century in the history of PSL, getting the feat in 48 balls against Islamabad United. Rilee Rossouw is atop the list for scoring a ton off 43 balls against Quetta Gladiators in 2020.

116 – Jason Roy registered the highest score (116) against Lahore Qalandars in PSL 7. It is also the third-highest score in the history of PSL.

8 – Karachi Kings became the first team to lose eight consecutive PSL matches.

9 – Multan Sultans became the first team to register nine wins in the league stage of PSL.

21 – At 21 years, Shaheen Afridi became the youngest player to lift a T20 title in franchise cricket. Steve Smith won the Big Bash League for Sydney Sixers in 2012 aged 22.

5/20 – Young fast-bowler Naseem Shah achieved the best bowling figures of PSL 2022. He bowled a brilliant spell of 5/20 in 3.3 overs against Karachi Kings.

20 – Shaheen Afridi equaled Shahnawaz Dahani and is now joint-third with him for taking most wickets in a single PSL season. Dahani also took 20 scalps in last year’s PSL.

54 – Left-handed batter Shan Masood struck most fours (54) in the season.

3– Shadab Khan became the first bowler in PSL history to take 4 wickets in three consecutive matches

21 – Hard-hitting batter Tim David smashed the most sixes (21) in the tournament.

8 – Multan Sultans also created the record for most consecutive victories (8) overall in PSL.

9 – In the match against Multan Sultans, Shadab Khan smashed third-most sixes (9) in an innings in PSL history. Ben Dunk had hit 12 and 10 sixes against Karachi Kings and Quetta Gladiators respectively in 2020.

2 – Multan Sultans appeared in their second successive PSL final.