Qalandars the champions

The PSL X has gone to Lahore Qalandars - for a third time. The Qalandars won the T20 title back to back in 2022 and 2023, and now in 2025 - equalling Islamabad United's record of winning the crown thrice. However, in each of their victories, Qalandars have been led by just one man - pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi - something which is unparalleled in the decade-long history of PSL. It has been just one triumph each for all of Shaheen's counterparts, past and present, including Misbah-ul-Haq, Darren Sammy, JP Duminy, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Rizwan and Shadab Khan. Ironically though, Shaheen, the thrice victorious captain, does not find himself among the 16 announced for the upcoming Bangladesh T20I series at home, whereas the national squad is said to have been selected "based on the players performance in the ongoing PSL".

The recently-concluded PSL season, meanwhile, has seen the premier cricket league complete a decade of its inception - something that speaks of its tremendous all-round success. While the league has proved a big hit from the point of view of professional development of the players involved, it has also brought huge monetary benefits for all those associated with the event in any capacity - players, officials, franchise owners, broadcasters, etc. It has also served to lift the training and playing facilities, over the years, which had been subpart before the league came into being. The sporting gala has also helped set off economic activities in the country which have otherwise slowed down due to the policy of fiscal tightening being pursued by the incumbent government. To top it all, the league has played an instrumental role in the revival of international cricket in Pakistan, which had become a sporting outcast in the wake of the 2009 terrorist attack in Lahore on the visiting Sri Lankan cricket team.

The decade of the PSL success is worth celebrating - indeed!