While Afridi made the noise, it was the quiet brilliance of Shafique that sealed Qalandars’ victory
Danyal Rasool23-May-2025″I don’t usually win things, I always win things in my second season,” Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou told the presenter, having re-evaluated and decided his initial brag, largely irrelevant to the immediate conversation, obviously wasn’t sufficient. Yet in the world of sport where results top all else, that clip has now been reimagined – after his side’s unlikely march to the Europa League title – from the vapid boast of a bruised ego into a confident prediction of unparalleled swagger.There is, however, another clip of a brooding man with a dash of arrogance standing in front of a presenter, answers calculatedly curt and dismissive to make the exchange as uncomfortable as possible. Eighteen days earlier, Lahore Qalandars captain Shaheen Shah Afridi quietly seethed at the post-match presentations, having lost a bruiser of a game to Karachi Kings, one that left them vulnerable to yet another group-stage knockout. Interviewer Zainab Abbas tried to get some value out of the exchange, wondering if pressure had affected the bowlers, only to be dismissed with a shake of the head before the question was even completed. When asked what the bowlers had discussed in the crucial overs towards the end, “not much” is all Afridi offered.”This is not the end of the tournament; we’re still in the tournament,” Afridi said. “We’ll meet them in the semi-final [Eliminator].”
****
On Thursday, David Warner won the toss, and decided to bat first. He’d be facing Afridi first ball. Moments after the Qalandars captain had concluded that testy interview in the wake of defeat, the Kings captain had twisted the knife into his back further. He called Afridi’s belief the Gaddafi pitch would spin “baffling” and had followed it up by smashing orthodox spinner Asif Afridi for 20 in his first over in the powerplay. The message in the mind games was pretty obvious. .David Warner made 75, winning the battle with Shaheen Shah Afridi after soaking in the initial blows•PCBAfridi doesn’t forget slights easily, and this one is likely to have stuck. He started out with a slip and appeared to leave Warner unsure about his footwork for each of the first three deliveries before the Australian worked him away and got himself off strike. Afridi stared him down the length of the pitch as he took that single. Afridi had produced the first jab, and Warner swerved out of the way.But sporting narratives rarely produce the neat arc that is too often retrospectively moulded around them. The next ball, Afridi lost control of the movement as it sneaked past the keeper for five wides. Tim Seifert followed it up by smashing two errant deliveries for fours. At the start of his next over, Warner lofted him for four before clipping him over midwicket for six. So much for that first jab.Afridi had taken Warner’s advice. He didn’t once turn to spin in the powerplay, but Warner was controlling the game all the same. Zaman Khan bowled a tidy first over, but as he attempted to close the powerplay out, Warner unleashed, plundering him for 20. When Afridi returned later on after Haris Rauf had staunched the bleeding somewhat, Warner would treat him as his release valve once more. Since that promising first over, the Qalandars captain bowled nine deliveries to his Kings counterpart; they produced 23 runs. By the time Afridi was done, Kings had taken 47 runs off him; just twice in 81 PSL innings has he allowed more runs off his bowling.
****
Abdullah Shafique is much harder to centre in any narrative than his Qalandars captain. Two years earlier, he had played a title-winning knock in a humdinger of a PSL final, scoring 65 off 40 as Qalandars became the only team to retain the PSL trophy, winning by one run. It is easy to forget, though, because Afridi had come in and smashed an unbeaten 44 off 15, taken four wickets in the second innings, and walked away with the Player-of-the-Match award.As Abdullah Shafique ashowed, his classically elegant technique does not smother his shotmaking•PCBToday, as the home team pursued the 191 they needed to stay alive, Shafique recessed into the background. Fakhar Zaman, the ultimate big-match player, had begun beating the path to victory he finds so often in big games. While Shafique took his time to start, Fakhar was finishing off the powerplay with a 16-run takedown of Kings’ quick Fawad Ali. While he had raced to 47 off 27, Shafique nudged his first eight balls around, and had five runs to show for it.But then again, where he’s batting is in itself indicative of his comfort with letting his team-mates bask in the spotlight. Usually an opener, he bats three for Qalandars, allowing the rookie Mohammad Naeem to take his preferred place atop the order. “When you play at No. 3, it is a different phase of the innings, and batting there has helped me understand and learn how to play there,” Shafique said. “I believe it’ll help me in my normal game as well.”Just then, Fawad had returned to the attack, and drawn a miscue out of Fakhar, one Mohammad Nabi clung to at mid-off. Qalandars were behind the asking rate and their talisman was gone; Shafique’s obvious talent and quality has not yet translated into the aura Fakhar has earned, and Kings had edged ahead.Related
Shafique powers Lahore Qalandars into Qualifier 2
But, as Shafique pointed out, his classically elegant technique does not smother his shotmaking. “The way the modern game is, you have to adapt with it. It’s not a change in training, but a change in mindset. If your mindset is positive and you show intent, you will look to score runs and opportunities will present themselves.”There was little doubting Shafique’s mindset. He found a boundary or six off every bowler he faced; Nabi, the most economical bowler in the league, was slapped for a pair of sixes as he conceded 37 wicketless runs in his quota. Hasan Ali was lofted over long-on, Abbas Afridi languidly flicked above fine leg, and then pulled over square. When he finally did fall, he had smashed 65 in 35, and what remained for Qalandars was academic.As he sat down for the post-match press conference, the Player-of-the-Match trophy – on this day unquestionably his, was plopped down on the table. He asked for it to be removed from the view of the camera, easing it far out of his line of sight. “I want to play an important part in my team winning the match. You don’t get that satisfaction even if you perform if the team doesn’t perform.”Perhaps it is players like him that allowed Afridi to be so certain that day Kings had put Qalandars on the brink. It may still not have been the Qalandars captain’s finest moment, but with talent of Shafique’s ilk to rely upon, it is difficult to begrudge Afridi his over-confidence, and the basking in glory that will, at some point, have to be shared with Shafique more evenly.
