Lahore Qalandars (Urdu: لاهور قلندرز, Punjabi:لاهور قلندرز) is a Pakistani professional cricket team representing the city of Lahore in Pakistan Super League.[1][2] The team is owned by Qatar Lubricants Company, Ltd. and their home ground is Gaddafi Stadium. Team is currently captained by Azhar Ali and coached by Paddy Upton, a former South African cricketer. Lahore Qalandars was the second most expensive team and was one of the teams sold to an international company. The owner (Fawad Rana) wishes for Lahore Qalandars to produce better results in the next version of the Pakistan Super League.
Franchise history
In 2015, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that the inaugural season of the Pakistan Super League(PSL) would take place in February 2016 in the United Arab Emirates.[3] On 3 December 2015, the PCB unveiled the owners of five city-based franchises. The Lahore franchise was sold to the Qatar Lubricants Company for US$24 Millions for a span of ten years,[4][5] making it the second most expensive team of PSL (after the Karachi Kings, which sold for US$26 million).[3][4]
Team History
2016 Season
Umar Akmal was team's star performer with 335 runs in 7 matches as well as Leading run scorer in
2016 Pakistan Super League season
Qalandars drafted Star players in their team Chris Gayle, Umar Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Rizwan, Azhar Ali, Dwayne Bravo, Ajantha Mendis, Yasir Shah and Mustafizur Rahman during initial player draft held on 21-22 Dec 2015 in Gadaffi Stadium,Lahore
On 5 Feb 2015,Qalandars started their tournament with two consecutive losses against Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi.[6] 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 opposition's Shakib Al Hasan and Lendl Simmons took kings towards victory, hence losing by 7 wickets.[7][8] 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.[9] 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 blistring inning and Fastest PSL fifty was awarded with Man of the match trophy.[10]
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.[11] they played their fifth match of the tournament against Karachi Kings.Stand-in Captain Dwayne Bravo winning the toss put kings into bat.Kings respondes well by posting a good total (177) on the board.Zafar Gohar was the stand out 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.Last 10 overs belonged to kings as King's Ravi Bopara change the whole complaction of the match by taking 6 wickets for just 16 runs in the end beating Qalandars by 27 runs.[12]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 team's highest run-scorer with 78 in response Zalmi started well but lost their way a little henced Qalandars won the match by 4 runs.Delport with 78 off 61 balls and with 3 for 18 was awarded man of the match.[13]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 blistring 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 wicket.[14]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 un experienced bowling couldn't defend the target losing by 5 wickets.[15]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 qualified 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 He . At the final Qalandars were given Spirt of The Game award.
Team identity
Name and logo
On 12 December 2015, Lahore franchise owner Fawad Rana revealed the name of Lahore team as Lahore Qalandars. According to him, the animals Lion, Ram and, Tiger are old and very common names. "Q" in the Qalandar will represent both Qatar and QALCO [16] Rana Fawad added that the name was chosen to highlight the Sufi culture of Lahore. Qalandar is the common term used in Pakistan for Sufi mystics or saints whose shrines attract millions of devotees regardless of their religious
affiliations. Team logo for Lahore Qalandars features a Sufi performing the famous Dervaish swirls with three stumps on the right side of the logo and a cricket ball in the bottom, and is meant to represent the Sufi culture of the region [17] Logo was officially released on the Twitter account of the team.[18]
Theme Song
Lahore Qalandars Official Song was sung by Asrar.The Song was used by Franchise in promotion of team in Pakistan Super League Opening ceremony and was played during Lahore Qalandars matches in the league.[19]
Jersey colours
The Qalandar's kit colours are red and black, which are prominently depicted in their logo Alkaram was team's first shirt sponser[20]
Sponsors and Partners
Country's largest telecom company Mobilink was Qalandars' title sponsor in the inaugural season of PSL.Besides them Alkaram a Textile Mill situated in Pakistan was announced as another sponsor.[21]Media Partner of the team was Geo Tv. Who Promoted the team before and during the tournament.
Current squad
Chris Gayle is the icon Player of Lahore Qalandars
Players with
international caps are listed in bold.
- denotes a player who is currently unavailable for selection.
- denotes a player who is unavailable for rest of the season.
Management and coaching staff
Captains
| No. |
Nat |
Player |
From |
To |
Mat |
Won |
Lost |
tie |
NR |
% |
| 1 |
 |
Azhar Ali |
2016 |
Present |
7 |
2 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
28.57 |
| 2 |
 |
Dwayne Bravo |
2016 |
2016 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
00.00 |
|
Result Summary
Overall Results in PSL
Performance summary in Pakistan Super League
| Year | Pld | Won | Loss | NR | Tied | SR(%) | Position | Summary |
| 2016 |
8 | 2 | 6 | - | - | 25.00% | 5th | Group Stage |
Head-to-Head Record
[23]
References
- ↑ "Cricket fans in Qatar now cheer for Lahore Qalandars". Retrieved 13 December 2015.
- ↑ "Cricket fans in Qatar can now cheer for Lahore Qalandars!". Gulf Times. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
- 1 2 "Pakistan Super League: PCB will earn 93 million approx 10 million rs in ten years from PSL auction". 7 December 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
- 1 2 "Pakistan Super League: Seven Companies fight it out to buy franchises". Express Tribune. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ↑ http://labs.tribune.com.pk/psl/
- ↑ http://pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/02/19/sports/qalandars-felt-yasir-mustafizurs-absence-in-psl-lahore-owner/
- ↑ http://espncricinfo.com//ci/engine/match/959177.html/, ESPN CricInfo, 2016-02-05. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
- ↑ http://dunyanews.tv/en/Cricket/321350-PSL-T20-Karachi-Kings-win-toss-choose-to-field-a/, DunyaNewsPakistan, 2016-02-05. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
- ↑ http://tribune.com.pk/story/1041590/live-lahore-qalandars-vs-peshawar-zalmi/, Express Tribune, 2016-02-06 Retrieved 2016-02-27.
- ↑ "Umar Akmal's 40-ball 93 powers Lahore to big win". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
- ↑ http://tribune.com.pk/story/1043995/live-lahore-qalandars-vs-islamabad-united/, DunyaNewsPakistan, 2016-02-05. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
- ↑ http://espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/959197.html/, ESPN Cric Info, 2016-02-15. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
- ↑ http://espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/959203.html/, ESPN Cric Info, 2016-02-13. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
- ↑ http://tribune.com.pk/story/1048014/live-lahore-qalandars-vs-quetta-gladiators/, Express Tribune 2016-02-16. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
- ↑ http://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/sports/match-highlights-islamabad-united-beat-lahore-qalandars-by-5-wickets-qalandars-out-of-tournament/, Express Tribune 2016-02-20. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
- ↑ http://m.gulf-times.com/story/466262/Cricket-fans-in-Qatar-can-now-cheer-for-Lahore-Qal/, ""Gulf Times"" 2016-12-15. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
- ↑ http://pslfantasy.com/news/Lahore-Qalandar-unveil-logo-for-psl/, ""Cric Tale"" 2016-12-15. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
- ↑ http://crictale.com/psl-lahore-team-titled-lahore-qalandar/, ""Cric Tale"" 2016-12-15. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
- ↑ "Lahore Qalandars Official Video Song HD". HBL Pakistan Super League. Sarah Ali. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- ↑ http://phoneworld.com.pk/mobilink-announces-its-partnership-with-lahore-qalandars-for-psl/, ""Phone World"" 2016-01-30. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
- ↑ http://phoneworld.com.pk/mobilink-announces-its-partnership-with-lahore-qalandars-for-psl/, ""Phone World"" 2016-01-30. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
- ↑ http://tribune.com.pk/story/1088518/aaqib-javed-resigns-from-uae-coaching-joins-psl-franchise/, ""The Express Tribune"" 2016-04-20. Retrieved 2016-04-21
- ↑ "PSL Points Table 2016". PSL T20. Retrieved 2016-02-07.
External links
Lahore Qalandars |
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| | Coaches | |
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| | Seasons | |
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Islamabad United
Karachi Kings
Peshawar Zalmi
Quetta Gladiators 
