The full house at the Gaddafi Stadium on a shimmering Sunday night in Lahore the other day underlined Pakistan cricket’s remarkable resurgence globally. The occasion was the final of the showpiece T20 franchise Pakistan Super League (PSL) between Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans.
For the first time, Lahore Qalandars won the trophy in the seventh edition of the league, and what’s more it even has a Qatar connection to it!
The wildly popular Lahore franchise is owned by Fawad Rana, a leading Pakistani businessman based in Doha, who is himself a celebrity known for his passionate indulgence of arts and culture when he finds time from work as managing director of QALCO.  
The final brought curtains on a month-long spectacle that is being increasingly viewed by the connoisseurs as perhaps, the most competitive league in the game now with former England captain Michael Vaughan being the latest to endorse the view.
“The Pakistan Super League has it spot on … High quality players … Fewer games than other tournaments making it a few weeks shorter …It leaves you wanting a little bit more at the end … Other tournaments don’t,” he tweeted.
The last edition had a hiccup or two when it had to be postponed and rescheduled towards the end because of Covid restrictions. However, this year’s gala had what all spectator sports crave: fans in the arena to cheer their favourite teams. Lahore, the headquarters of Pakistan cricket and also its cultural capital, left no-one in any doubt about its penchant for the high-octane shortest format of the game by repeatedly filling the stadium and shaking it to the rafters.
This year, the fare was even more pronounced both on the 22-yard surface, out in the stands and in-and-out of the commentary box with more experts and presenters, with the like of suave former England captain David Gower and ex-Australian Miss World, model, dancer, singer Erin Holland wowing the fans.
But while ‘foreign’ substance and glamour quotient was playing its part in making the game descriptively more attractive, the hosts brought their own glory to count with the effervescent contribution provided by two former national women captains, Urooj Mumtaz, who is also a dentist, and Sana Mir, a trailblazer for young enthusiasts in the country. It helped of course, that the two are adept at both English and Urdu, and seamlessly switched on demand with superb command.
Out in the middle, this edition has given birth to a newfound hope for future leadership. Pakistan cricket hit a purple patch last year across all formats under the leadership of 27-year-old Babar Azam, one of the world’s best willow-wielders, and perhaps, the classiest.
But as his franchise, Karachi Kings, suffered from an unusually slipshod performance, three of his national teammates, namely, Mohamed Rizwan, Shadab Khan and Shaheen Shah Afridi excelled in leading their respective franchises from the front with such compelling performances that there is now genuine leadership back-up for the national team that is both rare and awe-inspiring at the same time.
Afridi, who, was by almost universal consensus deemed to have been given the leadership role prematurely — his ex-superstar would be father-in-law Shahid Afridi himself tried to reason with him not to take up the reigns at this stage — defied the scepticism by leading Lahore to its maiden trophy, becoming the youngest skipper in the world to land a major league crown!
The 21-year-old sensation, who is fast blossoming into the game’s most potent strike bowler, may not have surprised the fans by topping the wicket charts in PSL7, but did so with his calm, hands-on captaincy and that unforgettable batting blitzkrieg where he blasted three sixes in the last over of what appeared to be a dead match but forced a Super Over finish in the run-up to the final.
Similarly, Islamabad United’s 23-year-old Shadab Khan pushed his own credentials as a leader with spectacular all-round performances and frontal helmsman ship.
Rizwan was his usual self — epitomising consistency — with a slew of awards on a night where he stole the shine despite being on the losing side.
What this means is that Babar Azam already has competition within the national side and this only augurs well for Pakistan cricket given its embarrassment of riches.