Lahore Qalandars is a professional T20 cricket franchise from Pakistan which plays in Pakistan Super League PSL cricket league. They are playing the tournament since its first season in 2015 and were also the winners of PSL 7 2022. They represent the capital city of Punjab and their home ground is Gaddafi Stadium Lahore.
Lahore Qalandars franchise is currently owned by Rana Brothers, it is also the second most expensive franchise of PSL after Multan Sultans. The current coach of Lahore Qalandars is Aaqib, who is with the team from Season 1. Shaheen Afridi is the captain of Lahore and also the youngest one to win the PSL title.
Fakhar Zaman is the leading run scorer for the side and Shaheen Afridi took most wickets for the team.
Contents
Ownership History
The Lahore Qalandars was bought by Kausar Rana Resources Private Limited Company for US$25.1 million owned by famous Rana Brothers, Jawad Rana and Fawad Rana. It was the second most expensive purchase after Karachi Kings at that time.
Team Identity and Sponsors
The franchise was officially launched on December 12,2015 by Fawad Rana. The letter ‘Q’ in the Qalandars were linked to Qatar and QALCO. The name Qalandar itself was representing the Sufi culture of Pakistan and Lahore. The logo was also designed by keeping Sufism in mind, it shows a beautiful blend of cricket and Sufism.
The sponsor details are given in the table below.
| Year | Kit Makers | Shirt Sponsor (Chest) | Shirt Sponsor (Back) | Chest Branding | Sleeve Branding |
| 2016 | Millat Sports | Jazz | Al-Karam Textiles | Geo News | QALCO/Mobilink |
| 2017 | QALCO/Huawei/Royal Palm | ||||
| 2018 | Ecostar | Gree | Bank of Punjab/ZXMCO/ Royal Palm |
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| 2019 | Mughal Steel | QALCO/Lays | |||
| 2020 | Hashmi Ispaghol | Mughal Steel | |||
| 2021 | B4U Cabs | Bravo Super Market | Mughal Steel/Revolt | ||
| 2022 | Marina Sports City | Al Jalil Garden | Mughal Steel | Bank of Punjab/AirSial/Kausar Rana Trust |
Lahore Qalandars Kit
Pakistan Super League History
PSL 1 2016
In the first season. LQ drafted many star players like Chris Gayle, Umar Akmal and Dwayne Bravo. They started the tournament on a low with two losses against Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi. After that they got their first victory against Quetta Gladiators. They managed to win only two from their eight group stage matches and got eliminated after finishing at the bottom of points table.
Umar Akmal of Lahore Qalandars was the highest run scorer of tournament and won ‘Best Batsman’ award as he scored 335 runs with four fifties. Qalandars were also awarded the “Spirit of The Game” award along with the “Fair play award”.
- Coach: Paddy Upton
- Captain: Azhar Ali
- Most Runs: Umar Akmal (335)
- Most Wickets: Zafar Gohar (7)
PSL 2 2017
Big changes were made to the team after their disappointing show in the first season. Chris Gayle was exchanged with Sohail Tanveer of Karachi Kings, Sohaib Maqsood with Aamir Yamin from Peshawar Zalmi. They also made a contract with Brendon McCullum and signed him as captain of the team. New players like Sunil Narine and Yasir Shah were selected and team was given a new combination.
They won 3 matches and lost 5 out of 8 total matches and finished last on the points table and ended the season with another bad performance.
- Coach: Paddy Upton
- Captain: Brendon McCullum
- Most Runs: Fakhar Zaman (177)
- Most Wickets: Sunil Narine (10)
PSL 3 2018
Lahore Qalandars again gathered up and made some changes to the team. But still they weren’t able to catch the momentum as they lost 3 of their opening matches against Multan Sultans, Karachi Kings and Quetta Gladiators. They managed to win only 3 out 10 matches and lost remaining 7 and ended up last again on the points table with 6 points.
- Coach: Aaqib Javed
- Captain: Brendon McCullum
- Most Runs: Fakhar Zaman (277)
- Most Wickets: Yasir Shah (11)
PSL 4 2019
The big shuffle of the players was performed by Lahore Qalandars management before the start of the fourth season. 12 new players and big names like Muhammad Hafeez, AB De Villiers, Corey Anderson, David Wiese etc. were added to give the team a much needed boost but all in vain, as the team was about to give another pathetic show on the field.
They again finished last on the points table with points, winning only 3 out of 10 matches and losing remaining 7 matches,
- Coach: Aaqib Javed
- Captain: Mohammad Hafeez/AB De Villiers/Fakhar Zaman
- Most Runs: Fakhar Zaman (285)
- Most Wickets: Sandeep Lamichhane (11)
PSL 5 2020
After disappointing first four seasons, the fans and management were very upset on the performance of the players. But LQ showed some commitment and qualified for the play-offs this time as they finished on 3rd number in the group stage with 5 wins out of 10 matches.
In the Play-offs, they won from Peshawar Zalmi in eliminator 1 and then beat Multan Sultans in eliminator 2 to qualify for the final match. In the final, they lost to their arch-rivals Karachi Kings by 5 wickers and ended as runner ups in the tournament.
- Coach: Aaqib Javed
- Captain: Sohail Akhtar
- Most Runs: Chris Lynn (284)
- Most Wickets: Shaheen Afridi (13)
PSL 6 2021
Lahore Qalandars took excellent start in the 6th edition of Pakistan Super League as they won their first 4 matches consecutively but due to COVID-19 situation in Pakistan, PSL was postponed and was resume in June 2021. The break proved to be bad for LQ, as they only won one match from remaining 6 matches and got eliminated from the tournament. They finished at 5th number on the points table.
- Coach: Aaqib Javed
- Captain: Sohail Akhtar
- Most Runs: Fakhar Zaman (287)
- Most Wickets: Shaheen Afridi (16)
PSL 7 2022
This was the season of Lahore Qalandars, as they were finally about to become champions for the first time. They started their campaign against Multan Sultans in which they lost. They won their next match against Peshawar Zalmi by 29 runs. They finished second on points table with 6 wins and 4 loses in total 10 matches and qualified for the play-offs.
They lost to Multan Sultans in qualifier match but won the eliminator match against Islamabad United to qualify for the finals. In final, they were to face Multan Sultans again but this time they won by 42 runs to lift the PSL trophy for first time.
- Coach: Aaqib Javed
- Captain: Shaheen Afridi
- Most Runs: Fakhar Zaman (588)
- Most Wickets: Shaheen Afridi (20)
Ans: Shaheen Afridi is the captain of Lahore Qalandars in PSL 8 2023.
Lahore Qalandars Players 2023
- Shaheen Shah Afridi
- Rashid Khan / Sam Billings
- Fakhar Zaman
- Haris Rauf
- David Wiese
- Hussain Talat
- Abdullah Shafique
- Sikandar Raza
- Liam Dawson
- Harry Brook / Shane Dadswell
- Dilbar Hussain
- Mirza Tahir Baig
- Ahmed Daniyal
- Zaman Khan
- Shawaiz Irfan
Lahore Qalandars has Selected 2 Players in supplementary category.
- Jordan Cox / Kusal Mandis
- Jalat Khan
Karachi Kings Players Statistics
Most Runs
| Player | From | To | Matches | Innings | Runs | Avg. | HS | 100 | 50 |
| Fakhar Zaman | 2017 | 2023 | 62 | 62 | 1936 | 31.73 | 106 | 1 | 16 |
| Sohail Akhtar | 2018 | 2023 | 42 | 40 | 774 | 24.96 | 75 | 0 | 3 |
| Mohammad Hafeez | 2019 | 2023 | 28 | 27 | 679 | 33.78 | 98* | 0 | 4 |
| Umar Akmal | 2016 | 2018 | 20 | 20 | 556 | 32.70 | 93 | 0 | 5 |
| Ben Dunk | 2020 | 2023 | 23 | 20 | 472 | 27.76 | 99* | 0 | 3 |
Most Wickets
| Player | From | To | Matches | Wickets | Avg. | BBI | SR | 4w | 5w |
| Shaheen Afridi | 2018 | 2023 | 43 | 61 | 20.40 | 5/4 | 15.9 | 1 | 1 |
| Haris Rauf | 2018 | 2023 | 32 | 37 | 28.97 | 4/7 | 19.4 | 1 | 0 |
| Yasir Shah | 2017 | 2019 | 23 | 23 | 25.21 | 4/7 | 21.6 | 1 | 0 |
| David Wiese | 2019 | 2023 | 24 | 21 | 29.61 | 3/27 | 20.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Sunil Narine | 2017 | 2018 | 17 | 20 | 20.55 | 3/28 | 19.8 | 0 | 0 |
Lahore Qalandars Result Record
Overall
| Year | P | Won | Loss | T&W | T&L | NR | (Win%) | Position |
Summary |
| 2016 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 | 5/5 | League Stage |
| 2017 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37.50 | 5/5 | League Stage |
| 2018 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 30.00 | 6/6 | League Stage |
| 2019 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30.00 | 6/6 | League Stage |
| 2020 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 53.85 | 2/6 | Runners-up |
| 2021 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30.00 | 5/6 | League Stage |
| 2022 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 65.39 | 2/6 | Champions |
| Total | 72 | 30 | 39 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 43.75 | – | 1 Time Champion |
Head-to-Head
| Opposition | Span | Mat | Won | Lost | T&W | T&L | NR | Win % |
| Islamabad United | 2016–2023 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 44.33 |
| Karachi Kings | 2016–2023 | 15 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 36.66 |
| Multan Sultans | 2018–2023 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46.15 |
| Peshawar Zalmi | 2016–2023 | 15 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43.33 |
| Quetta Gladiators | 2016–2023 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
Management/Coaching Staff and Captains
| Name | Position |
| Sameen Rana | COO & Manager |
| Atif Rana | CEO |
| Aaqib Javed | Director of Cricket Operations & Head Coach |
| Mansoor Rana | Batting coach |
| Ben Dunk | Power-hitting coach |
| Waqas Ahmed | Bowling Coach |
| Shehzad Butt | Fielding Coach |
| Moeen Nadeem | Trainer |
| Brett Harrop | Physio |
| Malang Ali | Masseur |
Captains
| No. | Player | From | To | Mat | Won | Lost | T+W | T+L | NR | Win(%) |
| 1 | Azhar Ali | 2016 | 2016 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 |
| 2 | Dwayne Bravo | 2016 | 2016 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 00.00 |
| 3 | Brendon McCullum | 2017 | 2018 | 18 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 33.33 |
| 4 | Mohammad Hafeez | 2019 | 2019 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| 5 | AB de Villiers | 2019 | 2019 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| 6 | Fakhar Zaman | 2019 | 2019 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| 7 | Sohail Akhtar | 2020 | 2021 | 23 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52.17 |
| 8 | Shaheen Afridi | 2022 | Present | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 62.50 |