After almost being cancelled due to India’s attacks on Pakistan earlier this month, PSL X came back from what seemed like an inevitable end and, on Sunday night, delivered a final for the ages at the newly refurbished Gaddafi Stadium. The Lahore Qalandars secured their place in the pantheon of T20 immortals, chasing down 202 runs against the Quetta Gladiators with just one ball to spare and winning the game by six wickets. This is the highest-ever successful run chase in any T20 final. With this historic feat, the Lahore Qalandars have secured their third PSL title, all won with captain Shaheen Afridi at the helm. The 25-year-old left-arm pacer has only strengthened his position as the most successful PSL captain of all time, far ahead of all other PSL trophy-winning captains, who hold no more than one title. Lahore Qalandars are now tied with Islamabad United as the most winning PSL franchises, with both teams having won three titles.
Afridi was the pick of the Lahore bowlers on the night, claiming three wickets for just 24 runs in an innings where the Quetta batters mostly dominated. Sri Lankan Kusal Perera was chosen as man-of-the-match for his undefeated 31-ball 62 studded with five boundaries and four sixes, adding 59 runs during the unbroken fifth-wicket stand. Sikandar Raza, the Pakistani-born Zimbabwean international, also played a key role for Lahore, hitting 22 not out with two sixes and two fours and securing the winning runs. Remarkably, Raza landed in Pakistan just 10 minutes before the toss after a mad dash from England. The 39-year-old was carried off the field on the shoulders of his celebrating teammates after having jumped on a plane to Pakistan straight after Zimbabwe’s innings defeat in a test match in England. All in all, it was a final the likes of which we will probably never see again.
Sadly, there are doubts about how many people would have been paying attention to a match that certainly deserved a lot of it. The PSL X was plagued by low attendance from the start and the interruption due to the conflict with India certainly did not help matters. While a large crowd was present in Rawalpindi for the game between the Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi when the league resumed on May 17, attendance in subsequent matches declined sharply, as per reports. A noticeably sparse crowd was seen during the semi-final game between Lahore and Islamabad in Gaddafi Stadium on May 23, with many expecting a larger crowd given the improvements to the stadium and the fact that the home team was playing to get into the finals. Some former cricketers have pinned the low attendance on fans being sick of the national team’s disappointing performances and that attitude spilling over into the PSL. The quality of the fan experience has also been highlighted, with confusing routes to the stadiums, traffic and several security checks possibly keeping fans at home. As such, this tournament calls on both organisers and cricket authorities to up their game. The former needs to give fans more incentives to actually come to the stadium and the latter needs to understand that disappointing performances at the national level will damage the country’s marquee T20 league as well. Finals like the one we just witnessed deserve better than sparse crowds.