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[VIDEOS] Lahore Qalandars PSL 8 | Squad and Discussion Thread

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Fresh off the back of their 1st PSL title, can Shaheen Afridi lead this squad to consecutive triumphs?

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Strongest retained line-up I reckon.
 
Great squad actually,

1. Fakhar
2. Shafique
3. Kamran
4. Brook (os)
5. Sikander (os)
6. Weise (os)
7. Hussain Talat
8. Rashid Khan (os)
9. Shaheen
10. Rauf
11. Zaman
 
Fakhar Zaman
Abdullah Shafique
Kamran Ghulam
Harry Brook
Tahir Baig
Jordan Cox
Sikander Raza
Rashid Khan
Shaheen
Rauf
Zaman Khan
 
Great squad actually,

1. Fakhar
2. Shafique
3. Kamran
4. Brook (os)
5. Sikander (os)
6. Weise (os)
7. Hussain Talat
8. Rashid Khan (os)
9. Shaheen
10. Rauf
11. Zaman

Who's going to wicket keep :)
 
Great squad actually,

1. Fakhar
2. Shafique
3. Kamran
4. Brook (os)
5. Sikander (os)
6. Weise (os)
7. Hussain Talat
8. Rashid Khan (os)
9. Shaheen
10. Rauf
11. Zaman

You need one emerging player in your team who most probably will be Shawaiz Irfan, wicketkeeper batsman.
 
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great opportunity for shahwaiz irfan, will likely get a whole season as keeper batsman. keeping to shaheen, haris, rashid will not be easy. baptism of fire, but he looked really good in the PJL.
 
Pretty good squad.

1. Fakhar Zaman
2. Abdullah Shafique
3. Kamran Ghulam
4. Sikandar Raza (F)
5. Harry Brook (F)
6. Shawaiz Irfan (WK)(E)
7. David Worse (F)
8. Rashid Khan (F)
9. Shaheen Shah Afridi (C)
10. Haris Rauf
11. Zaman Khan
 
Shahwaiz irfan is one hell of a pick. Genuinely classy six hitting wicket keeper.
Future of the white ball sides.
 
Fakhar Zaman speak on TV

"They have assembled a very good team this year. In the past four or five seasons, we didn’t have adequate bench strength but that is not the case this year. This time we have the players on our bench, who are as good as those playing on the field. This is a really good sign for us"

“Cricket fans in Pakistan eagerly wait for PSL every year. I’m also excited for PSL and we will try to defend our title this season"

“As a batter my aim once again would be to become the best batter in the event while also help Lahore Qalandars win with my performance"
 
Aqib Javed announces Champions Lahore Qalandars HBL PSL 8 campaign

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Aqib Javed announces Champions Lahore Qalandars HBL PSL 8 campaign

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Great guy
Great coach

Best of luck LQ
 
Champions to commence their HBL PSL 8 campaign from 4th February

Lahore Qalandars, the champions of HBL Pakistan Super League 2022 will begin their campaign for the eight edition of the league from 4th February in their home city. The six-day training camp will be held under the state-of-the-art facilities of Qalandars High Performance Centre Lahore. The whole LQ squad including the captain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, will feature in the camp which will conclude on 9 February. The squad will then travel on 10 February.

Director Cricket Operations Lahore Qalandars, Aqib Javed has stated that the six day camp will include couple of intra-squad practice matches and some rigorous net sessions.

" We have planned an extensive HBL PSL campaign to defend the title, as such, all our local players are reporting on 4th February in Lahore.

A six-day long training session will facilitate players to get themselves reunited and gelled up again.

Lahore Qalandar is a family and we are in constant touch with our overseas players to bring them in the camp as soon as possible."
 
As per reports:

Harry Brook will also not be available for the team this year - Moreover, Jordan Cox and Rashid Khan will not be available for the Qalandars in the first three matches.

Lahore Qalandars will get partial replacement players for these two players in the replacement draft
 
If Brook goes I think LQ’s chances of retaining their title is slim to none now. All of their key players are either missing or not in great form
 
Good Team, similar to last year in fact. Sikandar Raza is a good player, had a great 2022. Only problem I see is Phil Salt, previous keeper, is gone.
 
HBL PSL Supplementary Draft Update

Following players have been picked up by the defending champion Lahore Qalandar in the supplementary draft meeting held today in Lahore.

Shane Dadswell, Ahsan Bhatti, Reserved Pick, Sam Billings. (15-20th Feb) and Kusal Mendis.

Shane Dadswell and Ahsan Bhatti are the two newly opted players to be selected from the Lahore Qalandar PDP Class of 22.

The previous PDP class of 22 players include Dilbar Hussain, Shahwaiz Irfan, Tahir Baig, Ahmed Daniyal and Jalat Khan.

This marks a total of 7 PDP class of 22 players who will featured in HBL PSL 8 from Lahore Qalandars.

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Complete squad of Lahore Qalandars for HBL PSL 8:

1: Shaheen Shah Afridi (C)
2: Haris Rauf
3: Fakhar Zaman
4: Rashid Khan
5: Sam Billings
6: David Wiese
7: Hussain Talat
8: Jordon Cox
9: Zaman Khan
10: Kusal Mendis
11: Ahmed Daniyal
12: Ahsan Bhatti
13: Dilbar Hussain
14: Shawaiz Irfan
15: Shane Dadswell
16: Sikander Raza
17: Kamran Ghulam
18: Liam Dawson
19: Abdullah Shafique
20: Jalat Khan
21: Tahir Baig
 
Sam Billings and Shane Dadswell are good picks. They should be able to cover Harry Brooks output in the team.
 
Final squad:

Rashid Khan, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, David Wiese, Abdullah Shafique, Harry Brook, Kamran Ghulam, Zaman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Hussain Talat, Sikandar Raza, Liam Dawson, Dilbar Hussain, Mirza Tahir Baig, Ahmed Danlyal, Shawaiz Irfan, Jordan Cox, Jalat Khan, Ahsan Bhatti

Sam Billings (partial replacement for Rashid Khan), Shane Dadswell (replacement for Harry Brook), Kusal Mendis (partial replacement for Jordan Cox)

NOTE: Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi have reserved their Supplementary category 4 picks.
 
Fakhar
Shawaiz Irfan
Shafique
Kamran Ghullam
Sikandar Raza
Shane Dadswell
Husain talat
Weisa
Shaheen
Rauf

They might be able to scrap it to the Semi Final not the strongest team in the compeition.
 
As per reports:

Harry Brook will also not be available for the team this year - Moreover, Jordan Cox and Rashid Khan will not be available for the Qalandars in the first three matches.

Lahore Qalandars will get partial replacement players for these two players in the replacement draft

it's obvious, the IPL contract probably prohibits him from playing for PSL again especially he was seen as a silver category... Most of the national duties in the month of PSL are just limited overs, one is before the PSL and one is after.

Should have roped in Jonny Bairstow in his place.
 
LQs Power-hitter Shane Dadswell

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Aaqib Javed:

“We will suffer due to the absence of Rashid Khan for a few matches because he is one of the best T20 bowlers in the world, however, we have Sikandar Raza and Liam Dawson to cover for Rashid and reduce the impact of his absence.”

“PSL is taking place at a time when a lot of international cricket is happening. Due to players’ international commitments, we were forced to make some change in the replacement draft but I’m confident that we have good options at our disposal"

“Kusal Mendis and Shane Dadswell are good options since we wanted to fill the gaps in our lineup rather than going for big names like Aaron Finch"
 
7 PDP players taking part in PSL 8

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7 PDP players taking part in PSL 8

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Good to see some local batters in there. Hopefully enough of them get enough chances to showcase their talent.
 
Pakistan's top players prepare for the PSL

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Lahore Qalandars Kit/Update

Shaheen Shah Afridi is our leader and captain, Atif Rana
The new kit of Lahore Qalandars is also being prepared by Shaheen Shah Afridi, Atif Rana
Shaheen Afridi is designing the best kit, Atif Rana
As Shaheen drops wickets, his kit design will blow away everyone's senses, Atif Rana
Hope all the fans will like this new kit design, Atif Rana

==

Think this should have a #sochnabhee...

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Shaheen working on his batting...

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Aaqib Javed:

"Karachi Kings are not even nearer to Lahore Qalandars as far as fast bowling is concerned"

"There is no match between Shaheen and Amir, Haris Rauf and Mir Hamza, Zaman Khan and Aamir Yamin. Yes, they have good options in spin bowling but we have strong fast bowling"
 
Many thanks to [MENTION=2016]Rana[/MENTION] for his excellent preview of the season


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Lahore Qalandars

The belief in the camp of the reigning champions LQ is that they have assembled their strongest squad in PSL history. Lahore will feel or at least give the impression that they are here to win the title once again after finally finding a way to get the best out of their immense resources. The question now is whether their key players will either be fully fit or available for the entire tournament? Also, the loss of form of certain key bowlers could also prove crucial. In regards to their batting powerhouse, they no longer have the experience of Mohammad Hafeez to call upon, and there is uncertainty at the availability of Harry Brook who is one of the best emerging batsman in world cricket right now.

LQ have demonstrated that bowlers win tournaments, and they have three of the best T20 bowlers in world cricket right now (Shaheen, Rashid Khan and Rauf). Rauf and Rashid in particular are not going into this tournament in the best of form, with Rashid having an underwhelming SA20 and Rauf failing to maintain his high standards in the BPL. Shaheen on the other hand is a proven new ball bowler, whether his long lay off from injury will effect his deadly first over threat remains to be seen. Pakistan’s best white ball Batsman (Fakhar Zaman) also has a huge tournament ahead of him in which he will look to once again top the charts with runs up front at a healthy strike rate.

Besides the key players for LQ, the Qalandars have made some brilliant acquisitions in the draft for season 8. The selection of Sikander Raza at the peak of his career is one of the strongest picks by the franchise, as they will look to use his international experience, form and ability to perform under pressure with bat and ball in order to fill the void left by Mohammad Hafeez. The return of Dilbar Hussain is also a welcome one, as he could become the fourth key bowler once again in an already strong bowling attack. What remains to be seen is if Dilbar is fit enough to play the entire tournament, and if his pace is still touching the high 140s, and if he has addressed his issues with run ups/overstepping the line. Another smart pick by the LQ franchise was the selection of Hussain Talat. The experienced, strong left handed middle order batsman often goes unnoticed for what he brings to the table, which is his local knowledge/experience and innovative stroke play.

The acquisitions of the English duo of Sam Billings and Liam Dawson are also brilliant work by the Qalandars management. Billings belongs to the new generation of strong, hard hitting English cricketer that have revolutionized the white ball game. However he has not been able to fulfill his potential like others of his generation (Bairstow, Butler, Livingstone etc). Billings has likely resigned to play out the rest of his career in Franchise leagues, and the gig at Lahore Qalanders could provide him an opportunity to play this league for the next 4 to 5 years. Dawson will also look to establish himself as a long-term replacement to Samit Patel who proved to be very useful to LQ for many seasons.

Full Squad:

Rashid Khan, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, David Wiese, Abdullah Shafique, Harry Brook, Kamran Ghulam, Zaman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Hussain Talat, Sikandar Raza, Liam Dawson, Dilbar Hussain, Mirza Tahir Baig, Ahmed Danlyal, Shawaiz Irfan, Jordan Cox, Jalat Khan, Ahsan Bhatti

Sam Billings (partial replacement for Rashid Khan), Shane Dadswell (replacement for Harry Brook), Kusal Mendis (partial replacement for Jordan Cox)
 
Lahore, 8 February 2023: Lahore Qalandars had a stunning run in the last edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League, which culminated in the Shaheen Afridi-led team lifting the trophy. It was the first instance of the side winning the coveted HBL PSL title.

The Lahore Qalandars fans have had a rollercoaster ride. Their side failed to qualify for the playoffs in the first four editions before ending up as runner-up in the 2020 edition.

Lahore Qalandars begin their title defence on 13 February in Multan when they play the home side – Multan Sultans – at 2000.

In a special interview with the PCB Digital, Aqib Javed, the Lahore Qalandars head coach, spoke about his team’s journey, what turned around their fortunes and their chances in the upcoming edition. Below are the excerpts from the interview.

How would you reflect on Lahore Qalandars’ rollercoaster ride in the HBL PSL?

Pick order in the players draft ahead of the start of an HBL PSL season determines the better pool of players available to you and during the initial seasons, Lahore Qalandars usually have been short of resources due to the pick order in the draft.

When I joined the franchise in the second edition, I faced the problem of forming a core as other teams had already picked the more skillful players in the domestic circuit. This is when I began the Players Development Programme. We were subject to a lot of criticism in my first three years in charge but we realised our strength lay in developing players. When we appointed Sohail Akhtar as our captain in the HBL PSL 5, there was further backlash but he led us to the final.

The setting of the 2022 title win was perfect for us – Shaheen as captain and winning the final in Lahore. We managed to develop our core group in HBL PSL 5. All we were missing was a captain and Shaheen has proved himself a capable leader.

The core members in every franchise are those who started their career with the same team and still play for them. When we talk about Qalandars being a family, we see that Fakhar Zaman has been with us since the second season, Shaheen entered the team as an Emerging Category player and is now our captain, Haris Rauf was found through the Player Development Programme and he is now one of the top bowlers in the format.

And, there is a lot of focus on the youngsters in Lahore Qalandars. Tell us about that.

We believe in giving our emerging players chances and making them superstars. In a similar way, we are focused on our future stars Kamran Ghulam, Abdullah Shafique and Zaman Khan. I remember Abdullah doubting himself after a few matches he failed to perform in but we backed him and reassured him that he will play all matches. When you give confidence to a young player, only then can he realise his true potential.

You have been involved in cricket for a long time – first as a cricketer and then as a coach. Where do you rate the HBL PSL?

If HBL PSL did not exist, Pakistan cricket would have declined. Franchises invest in the best available players in the country and the competition is very tight in HBL PSL. Credit is due to the HBL PSL for the emergence and progression of Shaheen Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Babar Azam and Shadab Khan. A player is judged by his competitiveness and how well he handles the crowd pressure. The HBL PSL experience is thus akin to international cricket and provides you with the platform where you can stand out with your performances.

And what is your take on the famous Lahore-Karachi rivalry?

The Lahore-Karachi rivalry is similar to Pakistan-India as the stadiums are jam-packed whenever these two sides take on each other. There is no added pressure on the contest but instead the players see it as an opportunity to perform and make their mark.

We might see a different rivalry emerge this season for Lahore Qalandars with Babar [Azam] moving to Peshawar Zalmi and people will be anticipating a thrilling clash between the Zalmi captain and Shaheen Afridi.
 
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Sikandar Raza is a great pick and very good replacement for Professor Hafeez, especially since he is in the peak of his career
 
Best Starting 11:

1. Fakhar Zaman
2. Abdullah Shafique or Kusal Mendis (when available)
3. Kamran Ghulam
4. Hussain Talat (Finally, a player from Lahore playing for the lahore team...) or Sam Billings (when available)
5. Sikandar Raza
6. David Wiese
7. Liam Dawson or Rashid Khan
8. Haris Rauf
9. Shaheen Shah Afridi
10. Dilbar Hussain
11. Zaman Khan


Lets say every overseas player is available: Then the four overseas players I will choose for 11 is Rashid Khan, Liam Dawson, Kusal Mendis and Sikandar Raza. I know David Wiese is a fan favourite, but like Darren Sammy was for Zalmi, thats about it he really isn't that good, even though eh won an odd match here and there.

I have no idea who Shane Dadswell and Jordan Cox are lol.

Could Qalandars win the PSL again? They do have a strong team, their bowling stands out, but Shaheen is coming back from a big injury, Im not sure if Zaman Khan will be as good as he was last year. Also, the loss of Harry Brook will be big. They need Fakhar Zaman to have the same blazing season he had last season, especially since the other top order batsman, Talat, Ghulam, Mendis, are not really boundary hitters. But a good sign is they have peak Sikandar Raza.
 
Former International Cricketer Mansoor Rana has been appointed as the director of Qalandars High Performance Centre Lahore. Mansoor Rana has also served Pakistan cricket team as a Team Manager and batting coach of Lahore Qalandars.

In this new role, Mansoor Rana will be responsible of nurturing new budding cricketers and enhancing the profile of QHPC across the globe.

QHPC has state-of-the-art facilities which has more than 300 national and international aspiring male and female cricketers.

CEO of Lahore Qalandars Atif Rana has expressed his gratitude while welcoming Mansoor Rana in this new role. He said '' Mansoor Rana has a rich cricketing experience and he is Qalandars Dil se from last three years. I am convinced that he will bring new ideas in future to enhance the quality and image of QHPC.

Chief Operating Officer of Lahore Qalandars, Sameen Rana said "We are pleased to welcome Mansoor Rana as Director of QHPC. He is a Cricketer-Maker. This cricketing family has alot of potential in it and we have offered him a new role to utilise his managerial experience in producing good quality cricketers across the globe.

Mansoor Rana, Director QHPC:

"I feel honored to join Lahore Qalandars as Director QHPC. I am Qalandars Dil se since HBL PSL 5 but this new role would be challenging. We certainly believe that Lahore Qalandars is a family and with brains like Aqib Javed, Sameen Rana and Atif Rana I would try my best to enhance the reputation of QHPC in World Cricket.
 
Lahore Qalandars were fined 10 per cent of their match fee for falling one over short of the target against Multan Sultans in the opening HBL PSL match
 
Outside of Fakhar Zaman, they have no batsmen.

Harry Brooks pulling out was a huge blow.
 
Outside of Fakhar Zaman, they have no batsmen.

Harry Brooks pulling out was a huge blow.

I’ll write a detailed review about this later

Some retentions, trades and picks in the Draft have been poorly anticipated

Karachi’s trade of Babar with Haider was poor business

Retaining HB without anticipating he would be available for the NZvEng series is also poor work

Picking Hasaranga as your first pick but not having him available for the first few games is also pretty rubbish work. You could fall behind early on and then it’s all catch up work
 
Tahir Baig, Hope, Ghulam, Talat cannot bat one after the other. It's a recipe for disaster. Lahore could be fighting for the wooden spoon if they continue with this batting order.
 
If players arent available then they need to experiment with what they have.

That means sending Weisie, Dawson or Sikander up the order as pinch hitters.
 
If players arent available then they need to experiment with what they have.

That means sending Weisie, Dawson or Sikander up the order as pinch hitters.

Barring Fakhar and Baig to a certain extent, the rest of the current team are all one dimensional.

They need to get the likes of Shawaiz Irfan and Shane Dadswell in the team.
 
Ramiz Raja:

“Apart from Fakhar Zaman, Lahore Qalandars batting looks very weak and I can’t see any batter who can come in and play a knock of 60 runs in 30 balls. Wiese is an aging all-rounder and they need a replacement for him as well. Yes, they have a strong bowling lineup but with this batting they will always stay under pressure,”

“The bowling will become better with the arrival of Rashid Khan but we still can’t expect miracles from Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf in every game,”
 
Lahore Qalandars all-rounder Liam Dawson has been ruled out of the Pakistan Super League due to an ankle injury that requires 4 to 6 weeks of rest.
 
Rashid Khan has arrived and joined the squad and will be available for selection for tonight's game against Quetta

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Shai Hope goes back to the Windies now as named captain for his country.
 
English cricketer Jordan Cox will join Lahore Qalandars' squad on February 23.
 
Sam Billings has joined the Qalandars squad.

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Fantastic addition, he's a handy T20 player.

And he proved to be that!

A word of warning to the rest of the teams from Shaheen Shah Afridi "with Sam Billings arrival our middle-order is much stronger and Abdullah Shafique has now recovered from flu which makes our batting line-up even better"
 
And he proved to be that!

A word of warning to the rest of the teams from Shaheen Shah Afridi "with Sam Billings arrival our middle-order is much stronger and Abdullah Shafique has now recovered from flu which makes our batting line-up even better"

I thought, with Harry Brook not being around, that LQ’s batting order may suffer. How wrong was I?

It’ll take a special performance to beat these lot.
 
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