Lahore Qalandars’ director of cricket Aaqib Javed believes the PSL franchise are beginning to reap the rewards of their development programme following their Abu Dhabi T20 triumph.
Qalandars defeated South African outfit Multiply Titans by 15 runs in Saturday’s final at Sheikh Zayed Stadium. It was their third consecutive victory in the six-team tournament that also attracted Yorkshire Vikings (England), Boost Defenders (Afghanistan), Auckland Aces (New Zealand) and Hobart Hurricanes (Australia).
Javed’s side, who finished bottom of the PSL in each of the last three seasons, were without their stars players like Brendon McCullum and Yasir Shah in the three-day event.
Instead, Qalandars fielded a squad made up of a majority of players that were noticed during various trials across Pakistan and developed in the past three years.
For instance, young pacer Haris Rauf was among those to impress and Javed was delighted to see that the hard work is paying off.
“This isn’t an ordinary win,” said the former UAE coach. “There is a history behind it with all the hard work that we have been doing in the last three years. During that last period, we trialled around 450,000 kids in three years. Every year we go across Pakistan and it’s an opportunity for everyone to get noticed.
“We went all across Pakistan and then this season, we trialled around 200,000 kids and then made them in the A team of (Qalandars) and then give them an opportunity to play a tournament like this.
Qalandars are back and what a welcome they had!
— Lahore Qalandars🏏 (@lahoreqalandars) October 7, 2018
Thank you to all the fans who came out to celebrate #QalandarsKiJeet #DamaDamMast pic.twitter.com/3hX8oZKpXP
“Around two months ago, some of these players were living in remote villages that there isn’t even a cricket ground in their radius of 50km. I’m so glad Haris Rauf is bowling at 147km. You saw the batting of Sohail Akhtar. He quit cricket and did then office work. We trialled him again and here he is with us and I think he will play a big role in PSL.”
Javed was a key member of the Pakistan squad that triumphed in the 1992 World Cup but he believes his latest accomplishment sits among the best.
“Three years on the Qalandars player development programme, this is the number one for me in my career. Then winning the 1992 World Cup as a player and then anything else,” he added.
