Lahore Qalandars

2016 season
Coach	Paddy Upton
Captain	Azhar Ali
PSL 2016	5th
Most runs	Umar Akmal (335)
Most wickets	Zafar Gohar (7)
2017 →

The Lahore Qalandars is a franchise cricket team that represents Lahore in the Pakistan Super League. They are one of the five teams that had a competition in the 2016 Pakistan Super League. The team was captained by Azhar Ali, and they stand on fifth position after winning just two matches from their eight matches in the PSL 2016, as a result they were eliminated in group stage. ^[1] Umar Akmal with 335 runs in 7 matches was leading run scorer of the tournament.

Background

Lahore Qalandars is a franchise cricket team representing Lahore, which plays in the PSL. In 2015, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that the inaugural season of the Pakistan Super League would take place in February 2016 in the United Arab Emirates. ^[2] Team is owned by the Qatar Lubricants Company. which bought it for US$25 Million for 10 years. ^[3] It finished the inaugural season of PSL at fifth (last) position.

Team anthems

The anthem of the team "Dama Dam Mast" was released in two versions; one by Asrar and other by Nabeel Shaukat Ali. ^[4]

Squad

Players with international caps before the start of the season are listed in bold.

Name	Nationality	Batting style	Bowling style	Notes
Batsmen
Mukhtar Ahmed	Pakistan	Right-handed	Legbreak, googly
Azhar Ali	Pakistan	Right-handed	Right-arm legbreak	Captain
Chris Gayle	West Indies	Left-handed	Right-arm offbreak	Overseas
Cameron Delport	South Africa	Left-handed	Right-arm medium	Overseas
Umar Akmal	Pakistan	Right-handed	Right-arm off-spin
Sohaib Maqsood	Pakistan	Right-handed	Right-arm offbreak
Naved Yasin	Pakistan	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
Imran Butt	Pakistan	Right-handed	—
All-rounders
Abdul Razzaq	Pakistan	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium
Hammad Azam	Pakistan	Right-handed	Right-arm medium
Zohaib Khan	Pakistan	Right-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
Dwayne Bravo	West Indies	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast	Overseas
Kevon Cooper	West Indies	Right-handed	Right-arm medium	Overseas
Wicket-keepers
Mohammad Rizwan	Pakistan	Right-handed	—
Bowlers
Ehsan Adil	Pakistan	Right-handed	Right-arm fast-medium
Yasir Shah	Pakistan	Right-handed	Right-arm leg-spin
Zafar Gohar	Pakistan	Left-handed	Slow left-arm orthodox
Ajantha Mendis	Sri Lanka	Left-handed	Right-arm off break	Overseas
Zia-ul-Haq	Pakistan	Right-handed	Left-arm fast-medium
Adnan Rasool	Pakistan	Right-handed	Right-arm offbreak
Mustafizur Rahman	Bangladesh	Left-handed	Left-arm medium-fast	Overseas

Kit manufacturers and sponsors

Season summary

Qalandars started their tournament with two consecutive losses against Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi. ^[5] On 5 Feb 2016, Qalandars played their first match against Karachi Kings losing by 7 wickets. While batting first they scored 125 for the loss of 8 wickets due to the first Hat-trick of PSL by Mohammad Amir. Mohammad Rizwan with 37 was the highest run scorer for Qalandars in this match. In reply they started well with early wickets but Shakib Al Hasan and Lendl Simmons took kings towards victory, hence losing by 7 wickets. ^{[6] [7]} In the second encounter against Peshawar Zalmi they again failed to taste success, this time posting 117 Dwayne Bravo with struggling 32 runs was the top scorer. Things went disappointing in bowling as well as they lost again this time by 9 wickets. ^[8] They tasted first victory against Quetta Gladiators. Qalandar's losing the toss posting 194 thanks to Umar Akmal blistering innings of 93 from 40 balls, supported well by Cameron Delport he made 73 in reply Gladiators started well but felt short in the end by 63 runs thanks to Zafar Gohar's 4 for 13 Umar Akmal for his blistering inning and Fastest PSL fifty was awarded with Man of the match trophy. ^[9]

In the second phase of the tournament, beginning in Sharjah and their next match was against Islamabad United played at Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium Qalandars scored 166 runs after being sent in to bat first. Muhammad Rizwan scored 50 off 27 balls. Defending 167 their bowling let them down as they were easily crushed after managing to get only two wickets. ^[10] They played their fifth match of the tournament against Karachi Kings. Stand-in captain Dwayne Bravo winning the toss put Kings into bat. Kings responded well by posting a good total (177) on the board. Zafar Gohar was the standout bowler for Qalandars as he took 3 for 26. Qalandars started the chase slowly but getting the momentum back with some quick runs between 6 and 10 overs. But both their openers Chris Gayle and Cameron Delport after making 38 and 55 respectively got out in quick succession. The last 10 overs belonged to Kings as King's Ravi Bopara changed the whole complexion of the match by taking 6 wickets for just 16 runs in the end beating Qalandars by 27 runs. ^[11] They won their second match of this season against Peshawar Zalmi which was a close match. Qalandars batting first gave 165 runs target. Cameron Delport was the team's highest run-scorer with 78; in response Zalmi started well but lost their way a little, hence Qalandars won the match by 4 runs. Delport with 78 off 61 balls and with 3 for 18 was awarded man of the match. ^[12] In their match against the Gladiators, Saw Qalandars batted first after being sent into bat first by opposition captain Sarfraz Ahmed posted 201 (highest score of the tournament) thanks largely to captain Azhar Ali's 61 off 45 balls and Chris Gayle's 60 off 34 balls followed by the blistering innings from players like Umar Akmal and Dwayne Bravo. In reply Quetta's Bismillah Khan, who was playing his debut innings in PSL scored 55 from 30 and Mohammad Nabi whose 30 from 12 finished the game on the last ball of the match, were pivotal in the victory and hence Qalandars lost the match by 2 wickets. ^[13] In their last group stage match a do or die match for Qalandars they started badly losing 3 wickets with less than 5 runs but excellent innings from Sohaib Maqsood and Umar Akmal saw team posting more than 150 but again their inexperienced bowling couldn't defend the target, losing by 5 wickets. ^[14] They managed to win only two matches in the end first against Quetta Gladiators and then against Peshawar Zalmi losing six out of their eight matches. Qalandars finished the league 5th on points table and did not qualify for playoffs. Despite playing only 7 games Umar Akmal was the highest run scorer of the tournament won the Best Batsman of the League's award after scoring (335) runs with 4 fifties. At the final Qalandars were given Spirt of The Game award. ^[15]

Season standings

HBL Pakistan Super League 2016

Dates	4 – 23 February 2016
Administrator(s)	Pakistan Cricket Board
Cricket format	Twenty20
Tournament format(s)	Double round robin and playoffs
Host(s)	United Arab Emirates
Champions	Islamabad United (1st title)
Runners-up	Quetta Gladiators
Participants	5
Matches	24
Attendance	201,609 (8,400 per match)
Player of the series	Ravi Bopara ( KK) (329 runs and 11 wickets)
Most runs	Umar Akmal ( LQ) (335)
Most wickets	Andre Russell ( IU) (16)
Official website	psl-t20.com
2017 →

The 2016 Pakistan Super League (or for sponsorship reasons HBL PSL 2016) was the debut season of the Pakistan Super League which was established by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The tournament featured five teams and was held from 4 February 2016 to 23 February 2016 in the United Arab Emirates. ^[16] The opening ceremony and first match of the tournament were held at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on 4 February 2016. ^[17]

The final was held in Dubai on 23 February and saw Islamabad United defeating Quetta Gladiators by 6 wickets to win the first title. ^[18] Dwayne Smith of Islamabad United was awarded the man of the match award for his innings of 73 runs from 51 balls. Ravi Bopara of the Karachi Kings was named player of the tournament. ^[18]

Around half of the TV viewing audience in Pakistan watched matches in the competition at peak times. ^[19]

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of the tournament was held at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on 4 February 2016, ^{[20] [21]} and was hosted by Yasir Hussain and Sri Lankan model Stephanie Siriwardhana. It featured live performances by singer Ali Zafar, Jamaican rapper and singer Sean Paul, Mohib Mirza, Sanam Saeed and such other artists ^[22] and ended with a firework display. A large crowd attended the ceremony at the stadium. ^{[23] [24]}

Player acquisition and salaries

The player draft for the 2016 season was held at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on 21–22 December 2015. 308 players, including both Pakistani and international players, were divided into five different categories. Each franchise was allowed to pick a maximum of six foreign players in their squads which could have a maximum of 20 members.

Squads

Islamabad United	Peshawar Zalmi	Lahore Qalandars	Karachi Kings	Quetta Gladiators
Misbah-ul-Haq (c) Babar Azam Sharjeel Khan Khalid Latif Hussain Talat Umar Siddiq Shane Watson Azhar Mahmood Kamran Ghulam Umar Amin Dwayne Smith Andre Russell Ashar Zaidi Sam Billings (wk) Brad Haddin (wk) Saeed Ajmal Mohammad Irfan Mohammad Sami Samuel Badree Rumman Raees Amad Butt Imran Khalid	Shahid Afridi (c) Mohammad Hafeez Tamim Iqbal Shahid Yousuf Israrullah Musadiq Ahmed Brad Hodge Dawid Malan Aamer Yamin Darren Sammy Jim Allenby Kamran Akmal (wk) Jonny Bairstow (wk) Abdur Rehman Junaid Khan Wahab Riaz Shaun Tait Imran Khan Hasan Ali Taj Wali Mohammad Asghar	Azhar Ali (c) Mukhtar Ahmed Chris Gayle Cameron Delport Sohaib Maqsood Naved Yasin Imran Butt Abdul Razzaq Hammad Azam Zohaib Khan Dwayne Bravo Kevon Cooper Mohammad Rizwan (wk) Umar Akmal Zafar Gohar Yasir Shah Ajantha Mendis Mustafizur Rahman Zia-ul-Haq Adnan Rasool Ehsan Adil	Shoaib Malik (c) Iftikhar Ahmed Nauman Anwar Lendl Simmons Shahzaib Hasan Fawad Alam James Vince Owais Shah Imad Wasim Ravi Bopara TM Dilshan Shakib Al Hasan Bilawal Bhatti Sohail Tanvir Mushfiqur Rahim (wk) Riki Wessels (wk) Saifullah Bangash (wk) Sohail Khan Mohammad Amir Usama Mir Mir Hamza	Sarfraz Ahmed (c)(wk) Ahmed Shehzad Kevin Pietersen Asad Shafiq Saad Nasim Rameez Raja Mohammad Nawaz Anwar Ali Luke Wright Akbar-ur-Rehman Bilal Asif Grant Elliott Elton Chigumbura Mohammad Nabi Bismillah Khan (wk) Kumar Sangakkara (wk) Zulfiqar Babar Umar Gul Aizaz Cheema Nathan McCullum

Officials

Seven umpires and two match referees made up the match officials panel for the tournament. Pakistan's top ICC umpire Aleem Dar stood in matches during the tournament as did West Indian ICC umpire Joel Wilson. Also a part of the panel were other Pakistani umpires Ahsan Raza, Shozab Raza, Ahmed Shahab, Rashid Riaz and Khalid Mahmood. The match referees panel consisted of former Sri Lankan ICC match referee Roshan Mahanama and Pakistani match referee Mohammad Anees. ^[25]

Promotion and media coverage

The official anthem of PSL season I, " Ab Khel Ke Dikha" was released on 30 September 2015. It was written, composed and sung by Ali Zafar.

Venues

The venue for the tournament was originally planned to be a single stadium in Doha, Qatar. In September 2015 the Pakistan Cricket Board announced the shifting of the tournament to Dubai and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. ^{[26] [27] [28]}

Dubai	Sharjah
Dubai International Cricket Stadium	Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium
Capacity: 30,000	Capacity: 15,000
Dubai Sharjah

Format

Each team played each other twice in the league stage of the tournament in a round robin format. As matches were played in the UAE, all games were effectively at a neutral venue. Following the group stage the top four teams qualified for the playoff stage of the tournament.

The 2016 season of the PSL followed rules and regulations laid down by the International Cricket Council. In the group stage, two points were awarded for a win, one for a no result and none for a loss. In the event of tied scores after both teams faced their quota of overs, a super over would have been used to determine the match winner. ^[29] In the group stage teams were ranked on the following criteria: ^[30]

1. Higher number of points
2. If equal, higher number of wins
3. If equal, fewest defeats
4. If still equal, the results of head to head meetings
5. If still equal, net run rate

If any play-off match had finished with a no result, a super over would have been used to determine the winner. If the super over had not have been possible or the result of the over was a tie, the team which finished in the highest league position at the end of the regular season would have been deemed the winner of the match.

League stage

Points table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	NR	Pts	NRR
1	Peshawar Zalmi (3rd)	8	6	2	0	12	0.573
2	Quetta Gladiators (R)	8	6	2	0	12	0.216
3	Islamabad United (C)	8	4	4	0	8	−0.282
4	Karachi Kings (4th)	8	2	6	0	4	−0.036
5	Lahore Qalandars	8	2	6	0	4	−0.536

Top 4 teams qualified for the Playoffs
  Advanced to Qualifier
  Advanced to Eliminator 1

Notes:

• C = Champions;
• R = Runner-up;
• (x) = Position at the end of the tournament;

Summary

League progression

Fixtures

All times are in Pakistan Standard Time ( UTC+5).

Match 1

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Match 2

Match 3

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Match 4

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Match 5

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Match 6

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Match 7

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Match 8

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Match 9

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Match 10

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Match 11

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Match 12

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Match 13

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Match 14

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Match 15

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Match 16

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Match 17

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Match 18

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Match 19

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Match 20

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Playoff stage

All times are in Pakistan Standard Time ( UTC+5).

Qualifier

Eliminator 1

• As a result of this match Karachi Kings were eliminated.

Eliminator 2

Final

Awards and statistics

The player of the tournament was Ravi Bopara of the Karachi Kings. Bopara scored 329 runs and took 11 wickets in the tournament. Andre Russell of Islamabad United took 16 wickets at an average of 17.25 to be the leading wicket-taker ahead of Wahab Riaz of Peshawar Zalmi with 15. Umar Akmal of Lahore Qalandars was the leading run scorer with 335 runs at an average of 83.75 and also took the most catches in the tournament with 7. Winners of the Spirit of Cricket award was Lahore Qalandars. ^[38]

Most runs

Player	Team	Mat	Inns	Runs	Ave	SR	HS	100	50	4s	6s
Umar Akmal	Lahore Qalandars	7	7	335	83.75	157.27	93	0	4	27	17
Ravi Bopara	Karachi Kings	9	8	329	54.83	132.12	71*	0	2	21	11
Sharjeel Khan	Islamabad United	11	11	299	29.90	148.75	117	1	1	27	19
Ahmed Shehzad	Quetta Gladiators	10	10	290	29.00	143.56	71	0	2	36	8
Tamim Iqbal	Peshawar Zalmi	6	6	267	66.75	150.08	80*	0	3	24	5
Source: ESPNcricinfo.com.

Most wickets

Player	Team	Mat	Inns	Wkts	Ave	Econ	BBI	SR	4WI	5WI
Andre Russell	Islamabad United	10	10	16	17.25	8.02	3/18	12.8	0	0
Wahab Riaz	Peshawar Zalmi	9	9	15	16.33	7.13	3/17	13.7	0	0
Mohammad Nawaz	Quetta Gladiators	10	10	13	18.00	6.56	4/13	16.4	1	0
Mohammad Sami	Islamabad United	7	7	12	11.50	5.59	5/8	12.3	0	1
Grant Elliott	Quetta Gladiators	6	6	11	12.18	6.09	4/15	12.0	1	0
Source: ESPNcricinfo.com.

See also

• Islamabad United in 2016
• Quetta Gladiators in 2016
• Peshawar Zalmi in 2016
• Karachi Kings in 2016
• Lahore Qalandars in 2016

References

External links

• Official website
• Tournament Site – ESPNcricinfo

Match log

Match	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorecard
1	5 February	Karachi Kings	Dubai International Cricket Stadium	Lost by 7 wickets	Scorecard
2	6 February	Peshawar Zalmi	Dubai International Cricket Stadium	Lost by 9 wickets	Scorecard
3	8 February	Quetta Gladiators	Dubai International Cricket Stadium	Won by 63 runs	Scorecard
4	10 February	Islamabad United	Sharjah Cricket Stadium	Lost by 8 wickets	Scorecard
5	12 February	Karachi Kings	Sharjah Cricket Stadium	Lost by 27 runs	Scorecard
6	13 February	Peshawar Zalmi	Sharjah Cricket Stadium	Won by 4 runs	Scorecard
7	16 February	Quetta Gladiators	Dubai International Cricket Stadium	Lost by 2 wickets	Scorecard
8	17 February	Islamabad United	Dubai International Cricket Stadium	Lost by 5 wickets	Scorecard

References