There was a time when Peshawar or KPK was just another Baluchistan type team where the rest of Pakistan played in and it would hardly make it through. But it is true that they have become the all time mighty team. In the departments the mighty team used to be SNGPL where the team management would hire the best of the best and make sure win every other series.
The reason why KPK is a successful team is attributed to two things:
-Large Pool of Players
-No extra bagage
-The new domestic structure (With Fata being merged into KPK)
Large Pool of Players:
A large portion of the population of KPK has been migrating to different cities of Pakistan. Lots of pathans exist in Islamabad/Pindi for example. The reason for that is due to the work opportunity. Some also shift here due to education. Interestingly they shift to these areas as a family.
Thus, many of their children or sibling than end up taking up the sport aswell and start playing. KPK has a very large pool of players playing all over Pakistan. Thus, whenever KPK has to make a team than alot of these cricketers have the option to play for kpk or in the city where the play.
For example, Nasir Nawaz is from Waziristan but lives in Rawalpindi. If in future he is not getting selected in the Pindi team, he has the option to play from KPK.
KPK has a very large pool of players existing all over Pakistan.
No Extra Bagage:
This is the biggest factor in KPK becoming a strong team. If you look at teams like Central Punjab etc they have to play the likes of Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Ahmed Shezad and all. They will always keep their spots due to seniority. I am not against this concept, but I do belief that if you want to keep players of the past than they should be atleast good.
KPK does not have this problem. They never had any extra bagage player. Even if they did in the shape of Hamza Mir, Junaid Khan or Umar Gul. They allowed them to play for other cities while Peshawar picked up more guys.
Guys like Iftikhar Ahmad, Sahibzada Farhan, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman and many others were able to transitions into the main squad at the right time.
Guys like Rafatullah Mohamand had to be removed (probably made coach to earn) and the right decision was made to keep seniors like Israrullah on the bench till they perform just like the juniors coming in.
Thus, spots were not wasted. Guys like Iftikhar got a chance aswell.
A person like Sajid Khan was able to play for kpk and his performance led to Pakistan test cap. Trust me, had this Sajid Khan been in some other region I doubt he would had made it as other teams would had not given him a chance.
New Domestic Structure:
Let me remind you that even before the new domestic structure was proposed, Peshawar was doing very well in the T20 as they had won the finals with the help of Rafatullah, Rizwan, Iftikhar and Imran Khan jr (medium pacer)
However, the domestic structure changed helped KPK alot as now they were able to tap into the Abbottabad pool. Fata was also merged into KPK thus enlarging the pool further.
Thus, guys like Shaheen Afridi, Asif Afridi, and Waseem jr were added in the team. Fata was a terrible team. It was more of an Afridi clan team where only 2-3 players were good and the rest were just a waste of space. Thus, the 2-3 that were good they now play for KPK.
Plus, all these KPK players are actually really good. Iftikhar Ahmad is one hell of a player that doesnt get the respect here.
Anyways, this is what I see on paper, but on ground there might be many more factors like club cricket and coaching etc.
