LAHORE: As Lahore Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi and the team’s owner Sameen Rana sat together to address reporters after their emphatic triumph against Quetta Gladiators in the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) final on Sunday night here at the Gaddafi Stadium, their faces radiated pride.
There was a lot for the duo to be proud about, especially having each other’s back; a recurring theme of their post-match press conference.
But the story that stood out was that of Sikandar Raza’s “straight-out-of-a-movie” arrival into the stadium – as Shaheen described it – 10 minutes before the first ball of the match was bowled.
After representing Zimbabwe in the Test match against England at Trent Bridge, Raza made a journey across four cities to make himself available for the decider, in which he took a wicket, grabbed a catch and most importantly, hit 22 off seven to give Qalandars a six-wicket win and their third PSL title.
“When we won the semi-final, Shaheen and I were sitting in the bus, and we messaged him,” Sameen said, revealing the back story. “We told him if his Test match ends, we’d love for him to come and play. Sikandar said he’d try, and we should start looking for flights.”
The flights – and the drives between Nottingham to Birmingham and Dubai to Abu Dhabi to catch them – were arranged, and so was Lahore’s match-winner’s vital presence.
Lahore chased a record 202 — the highest successful chase in a PSL final — before a roaring 28,000-strong crowd. Quetta posted 201-9, driven by Hasan Nawaz’s explosive 76 off 43 balls, but Shaheen’s 3-24 and Haris Rauf’s 2-41 triggered a late collapse, with just eight runs in the 18th and 19th overs. Kusal Perera’s unbeaten 62 and Mohammad Naeem’s 46 set the stage, but Raza’s late blitz turned the tide when 47 runs were needed off three overs.
But as vital was Shaheen himself for his team, a team that loves to call itself a family. With a three-wicket haul, which saw the pacer complete 10 wickets across Qalandars’ three knockout matches this season, Shaheen stood out again.
In all the three finals Qalandars have one, Shaheen has been their leader and three is the minimum number of wickets he has taken in each of them. But the 25-year-old deflected credit towards Sameen and his brother Atif for all his success, before the former spoke.
“Shaheen isn’t just a player for Lahore Qalandars; he’s a family member,” Sameen said. “He generously gives credit to me and Atif, but the fact is, we’ve been running this team for 10 years. Shaheen became captain four years ago, and in those four years, he won three trophies. I didn’t win them; Shaheen Shah Afridi did.”
The very Shaheen has been the victim of instability in Pakistan cricket, being thrown out of white-ball captaincy a series into it in late 2023.
The left-armer has endured immense criticism, not only from fans but from ex-cricketers as well as he struggled for form and fitness. He didn’t hold back his feelings about what transpired over the last two years.
“… if we want to improve Pakistan cricket, we need to support each other,” he said. “Look at other countries—why are their teams strong? Their ex-cricketers support them. They don’t say, ‘this happened because of him, remove him, and it’ll be fine’. Unless you give players that environment and support, nothing will change. I can’t fix it alone.”
Quetta Gladiators’ head coach Moin Khan, meanwhile, spoke with grace, his words tinged with resolve despite the heartbreak.
“Chasing 200 in a final is a huge achievement,” he said, praising Lahore. “Raza and Perera played outstanding innings.”
He lamented the absence of pacer Mohammad Wasim Jr., sidelined by a side strain: “Wasim, averaging 140kph, was our standout bowler. His injury hurt us.”
Moin reflected on Mohammad Amir’s costly final overs, conceding 28 runs in his last eight balls: “Nobody expects that from Amir in T20 death overs. It was a bad day.”
He pinpointed the turning point: “At one stage, 71 runs were needed in five overs, but our bowlers couldn’t handle the pressure.”
Yet, Moin remained proud of Quetta’s campaign. “Hasan Nawaz was outstanding, and every player contributed. We reached the final convincingly,” he said. For his young squad, he offered motivation: “You learn from losses. This setback hurts, but consistent effort brings luck.”
Moin didn’t hold back from appreciating Raza’s herculean effort for Qalandars.
“The professionalism and commitment he showed to Lahore Qalandars are commendable,” he said. “I heard he traveled in economy class and came straight to play without a warm-up, took a wicket in his first over, and delivered when needed with the bat.
“We should praise that effort. That’s the commitment players show, and it raises their graph. I think 100 per cent we should appreciate his effort.”
Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2025
