10 things you should know about Lahore Lions

Lahore Lions

1. Lahore Lions were established in 2004-05 and have participated in Pakistan’s annual domestic Twenty20 (T20) competition, the Faysal Bank T20 Cup, right from the tournament’s very outset. They are based out of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
2. Their home ground is Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, which, constructed in the year 1959, is the largest cricket stadium in Pakistan with a total capacity of approximately 62,000.
3. The likes of Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Imran Tahir and Kamran Akmal are just a few of the many prominent international cricketers to have played for the Lahore Lions over the franchise’s 10-year history.
4. They are currently captained by former Pakistan T20 skipper Mohammad Hafeez, who has played 243 international matches for Pakistan across the three formats of the game, and their present coach is former Pakistan cricketer Mohsin Kamal.
5. They are the most successful T20 team in Lahore’s history and are the 2nd most successful team in Pakistan after Sialkot Stallions.
6. They won the Faysal Bank T20 Cup for the first time in their history in 2010-11 under the captaincy of Mohammad Yousuf and have gone on to win the tournament twice since: 2012-13 and 2013-14. They can consider themselves unlucky to not have a bigger trophy cabinet, having been knocked out at the semi-final stage of the competition on four occasions.
7. Mohammad Hafeez is the franchise’s most successful captain as the team have lost just 2 out of the 18 matches that they have played under the leadership of Hafeez, thereby giving him an impressive winning percentage of 88.88 as captain.
8. The 2014 Champions League (CL) T20 will be their first ever participation in the CLT20, having narrowly missed out on qualification for the last 2 seasons.
9. The franchise is owned by Lahore Regional Cricket Association (LRCA), which is the governing body for cricket in the city of Lahore and is affiliated to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
10. In their victorious 2013-14 T20 campaign, Pakistan opening batsman Ahmed Shehzad, with 171 runs from 6 matches, was their leading run-scorer while Aizaz Cheema finished up as the highest wicket-taker after taking 11 wickets in 6 matches at an economy rate of just 6.44.