Pakistan Super League’s 7th edition came to a glittering end yesterday. Lahore Qalandars won their first PSL title as the side beat defending champions Multan Sultans by 42 runs in the final. A collective team effort ensured that Shaheen Afridi becomes the youngest captain to win a major T20 League. Mohammad Hafeez had a memorable game as he scored 69 important runs and took 2 crucial wickets for his team. For his performance, Hafeez was chosen as the player of the match. On the other hand, Multan’s captain and the second-highest run-scorer of the series, Mohammad Rizwan, was declared as the player of the tournament.
Shaheen Afridi Becomes Youngest Captain To Win T20 League
Shaheen Afridi, 21, displaced Steven Smith from the top to become the youngest captain to win a major T20 league. Before yesterday’s game, Steve Smith held this record. He led Sydney Sixers to the Big Bash League’s title in 2012 at the age of 22. It took more than 10 years for a younger player to lead his team, win a T20 league and break Smith’s record.
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Moreover, Shaheen also ended as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 20 scalps from 13 matches.
It’s a great achievement. We have been waiting for 6 years and I want to thank the Lahore crowd. They have come out in numbers and supported us throughout. A lot of people supported me, Hafeez guided me during lot of pressure moments so thanks to all who supported me. The fight we showed as a team throughout the tournament is really fantastic and we had that attitude to fight till the last ball.
Shaheen Afridi in the Post-Match Presentation Ceremony
However, not all were happy with Qalandars’ decision to appoint Shaheen as their captain. “Yes I told him not to take the responsibility now but he said he wanted to do it and can handle the pressure”, said Shahid Afridi, expressing his disagreement with Qalandars’ decision. Not to forget, Shahid Afridi will soon become Shaheen’s father-in-law. But the pacer has proved everyone wrong as he showcased his mindful leadership skills in front of the world. This also makes him a potential member of the Pakistan national team’s leadership group.
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The Grand PSL Final
Coming into the finals, Sultans had won 10 of their 11 games, while Qalandars triumphed in 7 of the 12 matches they played. In fact, in their three meetings this season before the final, Multan had overpowered Lahore twice. But it was Shaheen Shah Afridi’s team that had the final laugh in the grand finale.Â
Things started to fall in the right place for Shaheen’s men from the toss itself. At the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, the Qalandars’ won the toss and decided to bat first. However, they didn’t have the best of starts as they were 3 down by the fifth over itself. But it was just a casual day at work for the Professor as Hafeez(69 off 46) led the charge and took his team to an above-par total of 180 runs. But without the powerful contributions from Harry Brook(41 off 22) and David Weise(28 off 8), the team’s score wouldn’t have gone over 160. Asif Afridi was clinical with the ball(3-19) but he lacked support from the other end.
In the second inning, captain Shaheen and Professor came together to break Sultans’ backbone as the team was bundled out for 138 runs. While Shaheen struck thrice, Hafeez scalped 2 wickets. Zaman Khan, too, chipped in with a couple of wickets. The experienced duo of Rizwan and Shan Masood could not step up to the occasion for Sultans. Khushdil Shah(32 off 23) top-scored for Multan but that was never going to be sufficient.
