Shaheen Shah Afridi, the captain of Lahore Qalandars, was named captain of the HBL PSL 8 Team by an impartial panel led by Haroon Rashid (Head of the HBL PSL 8 Technical Committee) and including recognized commentators Bazid Khan, Daren Ganga, Nick Knight, and Sana Mir.
The impartial panel took into account a variety of T20 cricket factors when choosing the team, including consistency, impact on the team and overall game, and optimum team composition to enable this team to compete against any T20 side on any given day at any venue in any circumstances.
Shaheen Shah Afridi motivated Lahore Qalandars to finish first on the points table with seven victories, then assisted his team in recovering from a crushing defeat to Multan Sultans in the Qualifier by defeating Peshawar Zalmi in Eliminator 2, and finally smashed a 15-ball 44 not out and took four for 51 to lead his team to their second consecutive HBL PSL championship.
This is the fourth year in a row Shaheen Shah Afridi has made it to the exclusive side since the concept of Team of HBL PSL was launched in 2019.
Abbas Afridi and Ihsanullah, winners of the Emerging and Player of HBL PSL 8 honors, respectively, for the Multan Sultans’ Emerging Category, are also on the team.
Azam Khan and Mohammad Haris were chosen for the tournament team for the first time, just like the Multan pair.
The team is made up of five members of the Multan Sultans, who lost in the final, two members of each of the Lahore Qalandars and Peshawar Zalmi, and one member of each of the Islamabad United and Karachi Kings.
As openers, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam have been chosen, and a potent middle order of Mohammad Haris, Rilee Rossouw, Azam Khan, and Kieron Pollard has also been chosen. Rashid Khan, a wrist spinner, and Shaheen Shah Afridi, Ihsanullah, and Abbas Afridi round out the starting lineup for the HBL PSL team, which includes all-rounder Imad Wasim for the first time.
This is the fourth time in five years Babar has been selected as an opener, but first time with his Pakistan team mate Mohammad Rizwan, who himself has been chosen in the team of the tournament for the third successive time.
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