Lahore Qalandars managed to get their hands on the prestigious Pakistan Super League (PSL) trophy for the first time in the seventh edition of the series in 2022.
Led by Pakistan star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, fan-favourite team has certainly faced hurdles in its journey to success because the franchise, always a formidable opponent on paper, couldn’t meet the expectations of fans until last year.
Nevertheless, the Qalandars, fuelled by their love for the game, eventually beat the 2021 champions, Multan Sultans, to win the tournament. Let’s take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of this year’s team, ahead of PLS 8, which is set to kick-off on February 13, in Multan, where the Qalandars will come face to face against their opponents from last year’s final.
Strengths
As the famous saying goes, “batters win matches, but bowlers win tournaments”, the Qalandars’ success in the previous season was largely due to their bowling aided by some exceptional batting by Fakhar Zaman at the top of the order.
Likewise, bowling is the franchise’s strength as their two pacers — Shaheen and Haris Rauf — can always be a threat to the opponent at any stage of the game.
