Lahore: Before the start of the seventh edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), Lahore Qalandars were the only franchise out of the six to have never won a title.

That, however, changed completely in a month as Shaheen Shah Afridi-led unit thrashed Multan Sultans in the final at the Gaddafi Stadium by 42 runs to clinch the trophy.

Journey:

Lahore Qalandars’ journey of their historic campaign started with the match against defending champions Multan Sultans at the National Stadium in Karachi on January 29.

Despite scoring a whopping 206 for the loss of five wickets, courtesy sublime 76 off 35 balls with the help of 11 fours and two sixes from Fakhar Zaman, Sultans chased down the target with ease at the loss of five wickets with two balls to spare. It remains the highest-ever chase in the history of PSL.

Qalandars made a grand comeback in the second match against rivals Karachi Kings where they came out on top by six wickets, courtesy of brilliant batting performance again from Zaman who smashed a century in a tense chase.

The side went on to beat Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United in the next two matches but lost to Quetta Gladiators in the final match of the Karachi-leg.

In Lahore, Qalandars were a different unit altogether where they became the only team to beat Sultans in the league stage, that too by a comfortable margin of 52 runs.

After beating Gladiators and United, Lahore managed to secure their place in the playoffs and finished second on the league table with 12 points.

In the Qualifier, they suffered a thumping 28 runs defeat to Sultans but made a grand comeback against United in what proved to be the most interesting match of the competition.

With just 39 needed off the last five overs with six wickets in hand, Islamabad looked all but certain to secure their place in the final.

However, some very ordinary batting and some outstanding bowling along with brilliant fielding kept Qalandars’ dream alive of securing their maiden title, that too while playing in front of the home crowd.

In the grand finale, Qalandars once again were under the pump after losing three wickets inside the powerplay.

But again, they managed to make a grand comeback and eventually defeated the defending champions comfortably to secure their maiden title.

Shaheen’s inspirational leadership

One of the primary reasons for Qalandars’ transformation in the PSL 2022 is because of Shaheen Shah Afridi’s immaculate captaincy on the field.

The star pacer, who is only 21 years old, recently won the ICC Player of the Year award for his outstanding performances in 2021, was appointed as the captain of the team, replacing Sohail Akhtar.

The decision was a rather surprising one as the veteran right-handed batter was not only retained by the franchise, but he was also the only captain to lead the team to a playoffs berth in the first six editions.

That decision, however, proved to be a correct one as Qalandars had a tournament to remember.

Shaheen not only finished the competition as the leading wicket-taker with 20 scalps to his name but his captaincy was spot on in most of the matches. From starting the bowling with Mohammad Hafeez, Samit Patel to finishing it with young Zaman Khan when United needed just 12 and David Wiese when Islamabad needed just eight runs off the final over were the kind of decisions you expect from a seasoned campaigner, not from someone who was leading the side for the very first time.

But Shaheen not only looked calm in tense situations but also had his calculation spot on regarding the use of bowlers in different phases of the match.

Zaman, who was named the Emerging Player of the PSL 2022, also heaped praise on Shaheen for giving him the confidence to succeed in tough circumstances which is another testament to how the 21-year-old transformed himself from leading the fast-bowling unit to becoming a tournament-winning captain.

Fakhar Zaman’s brilliance

Fakhar Zaman was just in a different class in the PSL 2022 with the bat in hand. The left-hander looked just unstoppable throughout the competition.

Even though he ended the competition with some low scores, Zaman now holds the record for most runs in a single edition of the PSL after scoring 588 runs with seven fifties and a century to his name, overtaking Babar Azam’s tally of 554 in the previous edition.

His best knock came in the match against arch-rivals Karachi Kings at the National Stadium where while chasing a tricky target, he scored a brilliant century and took his team over the line. Not only his batting, but Zaman’s fielding also played a crucial part in helping Qalandars in securing their maiden title.

He was instrumental in the field in the final against Sultans as well where he not only grabbed some important catches but also dismissed in-form Shan Masood with a direct hit.

Unreal consistency

Qalandars have been famous for making calls that did not make much sense in the previous editions, perhaps why they finished outside the top four in the five out of last six seasons. But this time, they turned it around completely. Despite losing some crucial matches in the middle phase of the tournament, Lahore’s management remained adamant about not tweaking their starting XI too much, subsequently giving the likes of Kamran Ghulam and Zaman as many as 13 matches to showcase their talent.

Qalandars finished with giving just 17 players a chance to play in the competition, the lowest amongst all the franchises and it earned them some dividend at the very end. The management’s trust in players who were struggling in different phases of the competition because of a poor form, the likes of Ghulam, veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez and top-order batter Abdullah Shafique, proved fruitful as all of them came good when it mattered the most.

It is hard to imagine that would’ve been the call of the same team management who remained consistently flopped over the years by making some very strange calls and therefore, this should be attributed to the leadership skills of Shaheen who perhaps persisted with having more or less the same players playing for him.

Best at the death overs

At the time of the start of the competition, Lahore Qalandars was always tagged as the best bowling unit amongst all the six franchises and so it proved to be. The same side who finished outside of the playoffs spot in five of the last six seasons were by far the best bowling unit.

In the death overs where teams are going all out to score as much as they can, Qalandars remained committed to their planning of bowling yorkers more consistently than all the other franchises who opted for a change of pace.

It is because of this reason that Lahore claimed wickets at less than 13 runs per over, best amongst all the six franchises, and that too by a margin.

Qalandars’ clear strategy of prioritising wickets over the control of runs in the later stages was quite useful as the side finished giving away runs at less than nine runs per over, once again comfortably the lowest out of all the franchises taking part in the event.

Zaman Khan’s rise

When the teams were selected for the PSL 2022, Qalandars’ primary bowlers were Shaheen, Haris Rauf and Rashid Khan but that changed considerably with the arrival of young sensation Zaman Khan. The right-arm pacer was one of the primary reasons for Qalandars’ brilliant bowling at the death overs as he impressed everyone with his ability to bowl yorkers at will during the final stages of the match.

The 20-year-old, who came in the spotlight during the inaugural edition of the Kashmir Premier League (KPL), was drafted by Qalandars in the Emerging category.

His selection proved to be a masterstroke by the franchise as he finished as the third-highest wicket-taker in the PSL 2022 with 18 scalps to his name and was subsequently named the Emerging Player of the Tournament.

Zaman’s best figures of 4-16 came in the match against Karachi Kings at Gaddafi Stadium. However, his most memorable performance was against Islamabad United at the National Stadium where defending just 12 off the last over against hard-hitting players like Asif Ali and Azam Khan, the Mirpur-born just conceded three and claimed a wicket as well.