[PICTURES] PSL4 Trophy unveiling ceremony in Dubai

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HBL Pakistan Super League trophy unveiled in Dubai

· All six captains eye glittering winner’s trophy produced by Swarovski
· “We look forward to seeing competitive tournament with a galaxy of international and Pakistan stars showcasing their talent: Ehsan Mani
· Tournament to be launched with the opening ceremony and opening match on Thursday at Dubai International Stadium

Dubai, 12 February 2019:

The HBL Pakistan Super League 2019 trophy was unveiled at a crowded press conference at the Dubai International Stadium, the venue where the tournament would kick-start on Thursday with a glittering opening ceremony followed by the opening match between defending champions Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars.

Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board Ehsan Mani, Chief Marketing Officer HBL Naveed Asghar, Professionals Director Commercial for Middle East and Africa Mr Arsalan Saif representing Swarovski were joined by the captains of the six franchises at the trophy launch press conference.

“The HBL PSL 2019 is set to provide incredible excitement to cricket fans all around the world; we thank our sponsors, partners, the six franchises and all stakeholders who have contributed in putting together this cricket extravaganza. We look forward to seeing a competitive tournament with a galaxy of international and Pakistan stars showcasing their talent.” said Ehsan Mani.

Naveed Asghar and Arsalan Saif spoke about the opportunity that the HBL PSL provides to its sponsors and how the tournament has become an international cricket spectacle that is hugely attractive for local and international brands.

Captain of the defending champions Islamabad United, Mohammad Sami said, “It is a huge honour for me to be given this responsibility to lead Islamabad United this year. I have looked at the squad and there are so many options for us. The young guys have impressed everyone in our training sessions and we are carrying on our tradition of developing the emerging talent of Pakistan. I hope I can lead this group to another HBL PSL trophy.

We are all working really hard but in the end, we just want to keep things simple, play good cricket and if we do that then the results will come on their own.”

Captain of the HBL PSL 2017 champions Daren Sammy said, “All six teams are very balanced and that is good because we will get to see quality cricket in HBL PSL once again.

I have had the great honour of leading a very talented Peshawar Zalmi side for two years and, this year, we have greater depth in the squad and the experience that guys like Misbah and Pollard bring to our squad is invaluable. We always get great support from our Zalmi fans in the UAE but we are all very excited to experience the love and warmth of crowds in Karachi once again. We are Zalmis and our goal is always to win.”

Karachi Kings captain Imad Wasim said, “The Karachi Kings squad has a balanced core of local players and some excellent foreign players. We are keen to do well this year and get our hands on the magnificent HBL PSL trophy. It will be a dream come true for all of us to lift the trophy in front of our home crowd on 17 March and we are going to do everything in our control to win it."

Sarfaraz Ahmed who is captaining the Quetta Gladiators for the fourth successive year said, "I think we have a lot of depth in our squad this year. We have come close in the past three years but we have not been able to get the desired results. The entire Quetta Gladiators squad is determined to change that this time around.

We focused on our retention list this year since we wanted consistency in developing our squad. It helps that we have senior pros like Shane Watson and Rilee Rossouw returning and they will help the young boys ease into the tournament. I am particularly excited about our young pace bowling talent and I can't wait to see Ghulam Mudassar and Mohammad Hasnain in action whenever they get a chance."

Captain of the Multan Sultans Shoaib Malik said, "We have a strong squad with depth and variety, and we all are looking forward to a competitive HBLPSL Season four. Of course, our eyes are on the trophy, and we as a team have decided that the best way to get there is to only focus on one match at a time. I wish rest of the teams the very best from the Sultans."

Lahore Qalandars captain Mohammad Hafeez said, “This is an exciting time for me because I am leading a very talented bunch of cricketers. We have reworked our strategy this year and we are confident that if we play our natural game, and enjoy each moment of the tournament, we will do well. We realise what our performance means to our Qalandars fans across the world and we want to make them proud of their association with us. I am confident that they will be right behind us, as always."

The HBL PSL 2019 Trophy:

The star, the crescent, the green and the white! This year’s HBL PSL Trophy is a visual representation of the Pakistani flag in all its sparkling beauty.

The central core, covered in Swarovski’s 16 faceted Xirius crystals one by one rises up as a dazzling green beam and shows off the majestic Shooting Star at the pinnacle.

Around the star, six pillars covered on the sides with Swarovski’s Fine Rocks, open to make a crescent, depicting the six participating teams of the HBL PSL.

More than 50,000 crystals have been used in the trophy that took 4 months to be made, from concept to creation.

‘The Pakistan Trophy’ celebrates the different cultures in Pakistan and the harmony with which they stand together to call this country home. The green and white unite the many colours of this land under one flag, each colour being vivid as it is.

The people of this land join together to form the sparkling the star and crescent, the people join together to form a strong Pakistan.
HBL PSL is driven by this diversity and celebrates the best of Pakistan’s cricketing talent with the people of Pakistan.

HBL PSL Individual Player Awards:

Keeping up with the HBL Pakistan Super League traditions, the league will be giving out magnificent Swarovski trophies for top performers of the tournament.

The awards include:
· Man of the Tournament
· Best Batsman of the Tournament
· Best Fielder of the Tournament
· Best Bowler of the Tournament
· Safest Hands (Best Wicket-Keeper of the Tournament)
· Spirit of Cricket Award (Most disciplined team of the Tournament)



Ceremony in progress at the moment.

 

[UN talkz]

 

[The cricket enthusiast]

multan sultan outfit standout
pak should use similar kind for wc

 

[saroosh.anwar]

wow what a kit for sultans. !!

 

[Baigel]

Ooof... Multan ki kit!!! Waah

 

[Abdullah719]

Captains ready for battle as PSL 2019 trophy is unveiled in UAE

The captains of the Pakistan Super League 2019 and Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ehsan Mani addressed a press conference at the Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday.

Quetta Gladiators captain Sarfaraz Ahmed stressed the importance to hit the ground running in T20 competitions, saying: "Momentum is very important in T20 tournaments so we would try and built that momentum from the first game.

When asked to comment on the success of PCB's flagship T20 league, he said: "PSL has made a huge difference. It has produced a lot of good cricketers such as Hasan Ali, Rumman Raees and Shadab Khan. This should continue, and more and more matches should be played in Pakistan."

Sarfaraz was also asked if his recent four-match international ban for passing a racist comment could affect his or his franchise's fortunes in PSL 2019, to which he responded: "I don't think my ban will have any bearing on this competition as this is a different competition. In fact, it's better that I am well rested."

Multan Sultans skipper Shoaib Malik wished his rivals good luck before vowing to improve on his team's last year's performance.

"I would like to wish all the team owners and captains best of luck," he said. "Last year we expected to make the playoffs but couldn't. We always try to do our best and we would do this time as well. A lot depends on how you perform in the first few matches. Let's see what players perform and stay consistent so the team does well and goes deep into the tournament."

Mohammad Hafeez seemed content with his "very good team" that has "very good players", adding: "We're looking forward to the challenge. Everyone is ready to give their best performance so hopefully this time we will do just that.

PCB Chairman Mani, meanwhile, explained how the PSL is serving as a platform for aspiring superstars of tomorrow.

"It is a great inspiration for the young cricketers," he said. "It's a fantastic opportunity for them to show their skills and play alongside some of the greatest cricketers in the world. There cannot be a better opportunity than this."

https://www.dawn.com/news/1463399/captains-ready-for-battle-as-psl-2019-trophy-is-unveiled-in-uae

 

[Khan12]

Multan's kit is beautiful. The rest look awful. I hope we use similar kit for our team.

 

[haris93]

Man Multan's kit looks disgusting!

 

[Major]

damn that zalmi kit looks great

 

[Slim]

damn that zalmi kit looks great

Of course

Can we have higher res pictures please, the trophy and MS's kit look fantastic (it looks closer to the kit we had for Pakistan tbh).

 

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[UN talkz]

 

[MenInG]

 

[Syed1]

The trophies keep getting better and better each year.

 

[xricket]

Whats with the weird glittery paint job? Cant they just simply make it a metallic cup or something? Its like they try too hard

 

[iPakistani]

That trophy is something else! Looks worth a million dollars wow!

 

[yasir]

View attachment 87877

It’s disappointing to see Captaincy trend of our culture. It’s senior’s job, not that just but pretty much all have no guarantee to be playing member if not Captain. PSL is going down the hill with too many old players, running the show. Looks like the current players don’t want to play PSL, this does not looks good for Pakistani Cricket

 

[Snowflake]

Those trophies are sick! Love the bling!

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Trophy is cool, as usual.

The Multan Sultan's kit resembles a Pakistan kit from the 90's/early 2000's

 

[Slim]

Trophy is cool, as usual.

The Multan Sultan's kit resembles a Pakistan kit from the 90's/early 2000's

It actually looks almost similar to Pakistan's asia cup kit.

 

[surprise-package]

Did Multan management wake up one morning thinking they are putting together a team for the Pak national team?

Pretty poor choice and lack of innovativeness to come up with their franchise distinct colors and pehchaan.

 

[Syed1]

Did Multan management wake up one morning thinking they are putting together a team for the Pak national team?

Pretty poor choice and lack of innovativeness to come up with their franchise distinct colors and pehchaan.

They tell how they found the colors in this video...

 

[aloo paratha]

Man Multan's kit looks disgusting!

Agree. Blue and green look hideous together.

 

[Bilal Ahmad15]

Here are my thoughts on the kits and trophy:

Multan Sultans - Although Multan Sultans kit looks amazing, I don't really like the idea or agree with it because it just looks like a Pakistan Kit and none of the PSL kits should be looking like the Pakistan kit (THEY EVEN HAVE THE PEPSI LOGO!). It would have been better if they just had that light blue colour for the whole kit (by this I mean the light blue colour on top of their shirt).

Peshawar Zalmi - This kit looks solid and also isn't ruined by the sponsors.

Karachi Kings - The kit looks nice, kind of ruined by the tuc logo but the big downside, in my opinion, is the red. The red just doesn't look nice and red / orange should just be for Islamabad United only otherwise its just anoying to see other teams have the same kit colours which are in the other PSL kits. A better replacement for the red colour would be either the yellow colour that is on their logo (like in the past) or blue.

Quetta Gladiators - Looks horrible just like in all the other seasons. The engro sponsor is awful (but they can't do much really except put a better sponsor). However, what I hate the most is all the shiny gold stuff. It's disgusting and terrible and looks even worse when they are playing. I believe Quetta also has gold shiny pads which makes things worse.

Lahore Qalandars - This kit doesn't even look like a cricket kit, to be honest (however it may look different during the matches). Professor Hafeez looks like he works in a office. They should also make the light green colour the same as the green on Sydney Thunders kit (meaning a green colour which is a little bit darker) as that would make the kit look better I think.

Islamabad United - I don't know why Mohammad Sami is wearing a jumper/ jacket in very hot weather. Anyways I saw the United Kit, it looks nice even though it basically looks like a football kit, but I would take it any day.

My rankings for the Kits (#6 being worst, #1 being best)

1. Islamabad United
2. Multan Sultans
3. Peshawar Zalmi
4. Karachi Kings
5. Lahore Qalandars
6. Quetta Gladiators

The Trophy - Doesn't look that good in my opinion. The glitter stuff ruins it and makes it look like a magical thing that cindirella or another princess would use in order to marry the prince.

 

[rhony]

After supporting Quetta for years, I'm backing Lahore this time around. Hafeez is the best captain of the lot and 5hey seem to have the best kit

 

[dhump]

beautiful trophies.