The defending champions Lahore Qalandars are on the cusp of securing their third consecutive Pakistan Super League title, an extraordinary achievement that would underscore their dominance in the competition. For the Qalandars to clinch this trio of championship victories, they must swiftly tackle four critical issues. Let’s delve into PSL 9 key concerns of in detail.
Spin Woes: Lahore Qalandars’ Challenge Without Rashid Khan
Spin bowling has been a pivotal element of the champion team’s strategy since Rashid Khan joined the ranks. The statistics from PSL 2023 are testament to this, with Lahore Qalandars’ bowlers leading the tally for the most wickets taken during the middle overs, a total of 47. Remarkably, 43% of these were credited to Rashid Khan alone, making him a central figure in Lahore Qalandars’ bowling lineup, alongside stars like Shaheen Afridi, Haris, and Zaman Khan. However, bad news is that, Rashid Khan will not be part of the Qalandars’ lineup this year due to a back injury, presenting a significant challenge for Lahore in PSL 9.
Looking at their PSL 9 squad, they have Syed Faridoun as their primary spinner, with Sikandar Raza and Ahsan Bhatti also available as spinning options. Yet, their abilities don’t quite match Rashid Khan’s exceptional talent. The quest for a player of Rashid’s caliber is undoubtedly underway for the Qalandars’ management. Without finding a suitable replacement, they risk a potential vulnerability in this crucial aspect of their game.
Lahore’s Fielding Frustrations: Addressing Missed Opportunities
The transformation of the Lahore Qalandars into a formidable force in every facet of the game over recent years is evident. Yet, an area eagerly awaiting improvement is their on-ground fielding. A look back at the PSL 2023 fielding statistics reveals a concerning trend: The Lahore Qalandars led the chart with the highest number of dropped catches, totaling 16.
This equates to approximately one dropped catch per match. Adding to this, the four missed run-out opportunities bring their total missed chances to 20. In a sport where victories and losses are often decided by the narrowest of margins, such performance metrics are far from satisfactory. For the Lahore Qalandars to sustain their top-tier status, it’s imperative that they significantly improve their fielding unit.
Powerplay Predicament: Lahore Qalandars’ Search for Opening Stability
Without a doubt, Lahore Qalandars won two titles consecutively, but this does not imply that everything was perfect and smooth for them. Despite their world-class bowling lineup leading them to victory last season, there’s room for significant improvement in their batting department. During PSL 8, the Lahore Qalandars had the lowest powerplay strike rate among all PSL teams, a stark contrast to teams like Zalmi and Sultans, whose batters were striking at over 150 during the powerplay.
Lahore Qalandars’ batters managed a powerplay strike rate of just 114. Heading into PSL 9, it’s imperative for Lahore to find an opener who can ignite the innings alongside Fakhar Zaman. They have potential candidates in Abdullah Shafiq and Sahibzada Farhan, with the latter showing promising form in the National T20 Cup and earning a spot in the Pakistan squad for the T20 series against New Zealand. Farhan, in particular, could be an excellent match at the top of the order with Fakhar.
Lahore Qalandars’ PSL 9 Concerns with Shaheen and Haris:
Another crucial issue Lahore Qalandars must address is the recent form of their premium pace duo, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf. In their recent outings, these two frontline pacers have appeared to be out of form. In terms of runs per over, 2024 has been the worst year for both Shaheen and Haris so far with both delivering their least economical spells to date.
Haris has been very generous to batsmen, having bowled with an economy rate of 10.91 in 2024, while his teammate Shaheen has also bowled with an economy of 8.91, which is slightly better than Haris but still quite poor by his own standards. Furthermore, with Rashid Khan’s absence, the pressure on these Lahore Qalandars stalwarts has significantly intensified. The question looming over PSL 9 is whether these two fast bowlers can bounce back to their peak performance levels.
The defending champions Lahore Qalandars will commence their PSL 9 campaign on the opening day, facing off against Islamabad United on February 17th. The highly anticipated showdowns between arch-rivals Lahore Qalandars and Karachi Kings are set for February 24th and March 9th. For the complete PSL 2024 squad and schedule of Lahore Qalandars and players availability, click here. Also, for all PSL teams squad and complete PSL 2024 schedule of all teams, visit here.
