Lahore Qalandars won five of their first six games in the previous season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). They only needed to win one more game to make the playoffs, but they lost their final four, finishing with the league’s second-worst net run rate. They are the only side in the league to have failed to win a championship in the last six years.

The most successful season for Qalandars was the fifth when they reached the final but were defeated by Karachi Kings.

Improving Qalandars

The Qalandars have kept their core intact, with Rashid Khan returning as their significant foreign recruit and Shaheen Shah Afridi being given a new role as captain. They’ll be concerned about Mohammad Hafeez’s form since he has struggled to find form since scoring at the World Cup in 2020.

According to ESPNCricinfo, Yorkshire batsman Harry Brook has joined the Qalandars to improve the middle order, albeit he will miss the first three games, allowing Durham fast bowler Mathew Potts an opportunity to contribute.

Meanwhile, Otago allrounder Dean Foxcroft will want to resurrect his career after missing the last two domestic seasons in New Zealand owing to Covid-imposed border restrictions. The most recent competitive match for Foxcroft was in March 2020.

Without a doubt, Shaheen Shah Afridi is the biggest game-changer for the Lahore Qalandars, and he has the potential to tip the scales in their favor. After winning the coveted Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, the fast bowler was named the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year for 2021.

He took 78 wickets in 36 internationals last year, averaging 22.20. His most notable accomplishments came in the T20 World Cup, where he took seven wickets in six games, along with Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli, in Pakistan’s group-stage match against India, bringing them to the semi-finals.

He’ll don a new hat this PSL season as he leads Qalandars, captaining a team at the senior level for the first time at such a young age.

Rashid has taken 85 wickets in 57 T20s since the beginning of 2021, which is 24 more than anyone else. Rashid’s current wicket-taking rise occurred after he only took 121 wickets in 101 T20s between 2019 and 2020, when he struck once per 19.1 balls, compared to once every 15.2 balls since 2021. However, his economy remains identical in both eras – 6.62 (2019-2020) and 6.6 (2016-2017). (since 2021).

Captain: Shaheen Shah Afridi

Coach: Aaqib Javed

Full squad: Shaheen Shah Afridi (capt), Fakhar Zaman, Rashid Khan, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hafeez, David Wiese, Abdullah Shafique, Ben Dunk, Mathew Potts, Kamran Ghulam, Dean Foxcroft, Sohail Akhtar, Zeeshan Ashraf, Ahmed Danyal, Zaman Khan, Maaz Khan, Samit Patel, Syed Faridoun, Imran Randhawa, Akif Javed.