In the air tonight – and every night - there is but one scent, that of cricket fervor. As Pakistan Super League (PSL), now in its seventh season began, it was preceded by an anthem called ‘Ágay Dekh’ (sung by Atif Aslam and Aima Baig and helmed by the prodigious Abdullah Siddiqui). The song, like every PSL song, has its detractors but it is also easily one of their strongest and edgiest efforts in the PSL music arena to boost the spirit of cricket – which brings friends, families and strangers together, hopefully without any aerial firing which can signal both celebration or loss.

Anyhow, it is also true that like every year, as the PSL enters gaming mode, each team (Multan Sultans, Islamabad United, Lahore Qalandars, Quetta Gladiators, Peshawar Zalmi, and Karachi Kings) unroll what is an anthemic team song.

As the matches began on January 27, 2022, the music also followed. And some of the biggest names in music along with folk legends, pop stars, rappers and more have entered the arena. In the efforts that have been put together, the biggest effort may have come from Peshawar Zalmi, which counts Rohail Hyatt as executive producer and Ali Mustafa as producer.

The song shift from last year’s ‘Kingdom’ by Abdullah Siddiqui ft. Altamash Sever is palpable with the variety of artists featured in this year’s anthem titled ‘Aaya Zalmi’. With the legendary Zarsanga as well as Sunny Khan Durrani, Zara Madani, Tayyab Rehman and Zoha Zuberi roped in for the song, the complete project is the result of musical minds collaborating magnificently.

The composition is by Zoha Zuberi, Zara Madani & Sunny Khan Durrani followed by acoustic guitars, piano, strings, drums and bass by Rohail Hyatt with rubab by Sannan Mahboob and arrangement by Ali Mustafa and Rohail Hyatt. Urdu lyrics are by Zoha Zuberi, rap by Sunny Khan Durrani and Pashto lyrics by Rehman Gul. The artistic collaboration aside, the song is described in the following words: “This Zalmi Anthem symbolizes ‘metaphorical representation of life’. It is all about finding your inner peace and the fight with self to reach one’s true potential.” Where there is Mr. Hyatt, the metaphorical often reflects in the aesthetic.

Mahira Khan is once again onboard and features significantly in the music video in a completely different fashion. An effort to showcase what can be the “metaphorical” is present and Mahira Khan depicts that idea, shedding the image she tends to play in films and TV dramas. Just how Mahira Khan plays it needs to be seen before drawing conclusions. Though the music video also features cricketers, Khan steals the limelight.

The combined result, as the song opens with the strains of Zarsanga’s vocals and Khan in a much different avatar, is welcome at a time when the louder, bigger, bang is often appreciated over the subtle and the nuanced. The song is such a change from the usual, that you don’t need to be a cricket fan to appreciate its diversity, fury and inclusion.

Rohail Hyatt may have played executive producer to ‘Aaya Zalmi’ – easily the best song heard from the Zalmi music platform so far, former Strings member and now a solo artist, Bilal Maqsood – no stranger to the cricket-music arena with Strings – has also entered the scene. Just late last month, he unveiled a tribute to Shahid Afridi, dubbed ‘Shaan-e-Pakistan’. Okay, let’s cast Afridi’s sexist views aside.

The song released last month and is the official Quetta Gladiators anthem. Apart from Bilal Maqsood in Quetta Gladiators gear, the song features Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Adnan Siddiqui, Ushna Shah & Syed Shafaat Ali.

Performed by Bilal Maqsood & Ahmed Murtaza, there is a whole team behind it since it’s PSL, but the song’s undeniable magician is Bilal Maqsood. Throughout the 30 years of Strings, Faisal Kapadia was the lead singer. Not anymore. And this may well be a good thing. Maybe as a band, they were done but as solo artists, both Bilal and Faisal have fresh ideas. It remains to be seen what Faisal does, but Bilal taking the mic in a project like this gives it an edge others lack. If we had to pick the top three from PSL, we’d pick its anthem, the Zalmi anthem and Quetta Gladiators anthem. You don’t need to be Boom Boom fan to find the beauty in this song.

– PSL is scheduled to end on Sunday February 27, 2022