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Naeem Niazi
LAHORE, Mar 03 (APP):The time is out of the joint for the Lahore Qalandars in the ninth edition of the Pakistan Super League 2024.
The defending champions Lahore have failed to record a win so far while their only point has come through
the divine intervention when the skies poured down to help abandon their match against Peshawar Zalmi
due to the soggy pitch conditions at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday. The Lahore Qalandars
have earned one point from seven outings and are the only team to lose six matches on the trot in the history
of the Pakistan Super League this year. Qalandars are languishing at the bottom of the points table with
one point from seven outings while their nearest rival Karachi Kings have earned four points from five
matches so far.
Lahore Qalnadars’ fans are frustrated with the recent team performances while the cricket pundits scratch
their heads for such a lack-luster showing from an outfit which has the one of the best fast bowling attacks,
at least on paper, in Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Zaman khan. The trio has so far amassed 17 wickets in six outings among them with Shaheen grabbing nine while Zaman Khan has six and Haris Rauf, out of
the HBL PSL 9 with dislocated shoulder, picked only two from four matches.
Bowling has been at the heart of their dismal showing this year with the defending champions conceding
the highest team totals 214 (Sultans) and 211 (Zalmi) besides failing to defend par totals of 195, 185 and 175. Bowling has failed to deliver and the fact was admitted by the team coach Aaqib Javed during the post-match press conference after a big loss against the table-topper Multan Sultans at the Gaddafi Stadium when he bemoaned the absence of their spin-bowling wizard Rashid Khan due to injury.
Rashid Khan was instrumental in Lahore Qalandars’ back to back qualifications to the finals of the seventh
and eighth editions of the HBL PSL and without him Qalandars lacked the sting in their bowling. Wily Rashid
Khan can bowl in any conditions and outwit the opposition with his leg-spin and his unavailability proved the
major blow to Qalandars chances in spin-friendly bowling conditions at the Pakistani tracks. Just imagine what Rashid Khan could do with the ball at the HBL PSL 9 when leg-spinner Usama Mir (MS) is the joint top wicket-taker with 13 wickets alongside his team-mate fast bowler Mohammad Ali and mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed (QG) being the second best with 10 scalps.
Rashid Khan’s absence was also felt by the Afghanistan national team when they lost the lone test against Ireland by six wickets at the home-ground Abu Dhabi last week. Rashid also brings an added advantage of
useful power-hitting to the team.
Speaking during the Pakistan Super League post-match broadcast after washout game at the Rawalpindi Stadium, former English fast bowler Dominic Cork believed that sticking with the same bowling attack in the
first power-play and not accepting change in the form of introducing spin has been the reason of poor showing
in the HBL PSL 9 so far. He said since the things did not work well for the Qalandars in their first three losses, the captain should have come up with some bowling changes at the start but they stubbornly stuck to their
plans and failed miserably.
Lahore Qalandars have also failed to make the best use of the world’s fearsome all-rounders Sikandar Raza
and Carlos Brathwaite in crunch situations. Sikandar Raza was adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the recently concluded ILT20 league in the UAE while Carlos Brathwaite could turn the tables on any opposition on his day. But they were sent too low down the batting order and, thus, Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi missed
the trick of making the best use of their batting prowess.
The only bright side for the Lahore Qalandars has been the powerful batting display from Rassie Van de Dussen, the second highest run-scorer in the HBL PSL 9 so far with 300 runs, and Sahibzada Farhan, 239 runs, who is fourth on the table. Though in a losing cause, Rassie scored his maiden HBL PSL century against Peshawar Zalmi in his first season with Lahore Qalandars while Farhan has scored three half-centuries. Both the batsmen have saved their team from a bleaker outcome this year.
Despite a dismal future with things falling apart in bowling performances, team combinations and strategic decision-making so far in the HBL PSL 9, Lahore Qalandars may still be alive mathematically if they win their remaining three matches convincingly while the fourth placed Islamabad United lose all of their remaining four matches and the fifth placed Karachi Kings win only one of their last five matches. However, the hypothesis
of ifs and buts is as unpredictable as the performance of the Lahore Qalandars this season.