Like
always, I was greeted with open arms by Lahore, when landed at Allama Iqbal International
Airport yesterday. I am here to do hosting and related media coverage for the Lahore
Qalandars, the second most expensive franchise of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Though, my employer Geo TV is the media partner of the Qalandars, however the
franchise owner Fawad Rana has never enforced any employer-partner or employee-
employer relationship. His friendly nature is no secret and is the reason to make
the Lahore Qalandars one of the most talkative brands across the country.
I still
remember my last two visits to Lahore and other cities of Punjab to cover the
trials of “Jazz Rising Stars” and I witnessed
Fawad Rana and his staff’ determination and hard work to pick the selected youngsters out of
thousands of young talents.
This
time the special event is the Lahore Qalandars’ send off before the second
edition of the PSL and the Kit Launch of the Lahore-based Twenty-20
outfit. However, the both formalities
have been incorporated into a special Musical night where top singing
performers will charge up the occasion.
This
year again the kit colour of the Lahore Qalandars is red and black which are
prominently depicted in their logo. Owned by Qatar-based oil giant the Qatar
Lubricants the “Q” in Qalandars represent both Qatar and QALCO, while according
to Fawad Rana the word Qalandar was chosen because of the significance of Sufi
culture in Lahore. In the logo a mystic man performing the famous Sufi whirling
with three stumps to its right and a cricket ball in the bottom, revealing the
essence of spiritualism and also the passion for cricket of people of Lahore.
In the
2017 PSL draft, Lahore Qalandars picked a number of new players specially Jason
Roy, James Franklin, Chris Green and new skipper Brendon McCullum. But to me among
the 2017 signings, the pairing of two great spinners of the contemporary
cricket world Yasir Shah and Sunil Narine would be pivotal for Lahore in the Twenty-20
format, specially in the conditions of the UAE.
By Naseem Rajput
naseemrajput@hotmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment