Lahore Lions (, Punjabi: لہور لائنز abbreviated as LIO) was a Pakistani franchise cricket team representing the city of Lahore and was one of the 19 teams on the country's domestic cricket. The team was established by Lahore Regional Cricket Association in 2004/05 at Lahore City Cricket Association Ground, one of its two home grounds. Domestically, the team played in the Haier T20 Cup. The team won its first title in 2010 where they defeated Karachi Dolphins by 37 runs at their other home ground, Gaddafi Stadium.
History Lahore Lions are the most successful Twenty20 team in the history of the Lahore Regional Cricket Association, and the second most successful in the country after the Sialkot Stallions. The team won the T20 Cup 2010/11 under the captaincy of Shoaib Iqbal Joiya and qualified for the inaugural Super-8 T20 Cup. Lahore Lions won the 2013–14 season and qualified for the Champions League T20.
2014–15 squad
No. Name Nat Birth date Batting style Bowling style Notes Batsmen23 Nasir Jamshed Left-handed 78 Ahmed Shehzad Right-handed Right-arm legbreak 79 Umar Siddiq Left-handed Right-arm off break All-rounders80 Agha Salman Right-handed Right-arm off break 81 Mohammad Hafeez Right-handed Right-arm off spin Vice Captain82 Shoaib Iqbal Right-handed Right-arm legbreak Wicket-keepers83 Umar Akmal Right-handed part-time spinner 84 Kamran Akmal Right-handed Captain Bowlers99 Asif Raza Left-handed Right-arm fast medium 100 Wahab Riaz Right-handed Left-arm fast 23 Aizaz Cheema Right-handed Right-arm fast medium 24 Imran Ali Right-handed Right-arm fast medium 08 Adnan Rasool Right-handed Right-arm off spin 87 Mustafa Iqbal Left-handed Left-arm orthodox 88 Mohammad Saeed Right-handed Right-arm fast medium 78 Ali Manzoor Right-handed Left-arm orthodox
Former notable players Muhammad Yousuf Abdul Razzaq Imran Farhat (Now, plays for Lahore Eagles) Imran Tahir (Now, plays for Highveld Lions, South Africa) Salman Butt Kamran Akmal (Plays Sometimes for Lahore Eagles and sometimes for Lahore Lions) Azhar Ali (Plays Sometimes for Lahore Eagles and sometimes for Lahore Lions) Taufeeq Umar (Now, plays for Lahore Eagles)
Honours Season Haier T20 Cup Super 8 T20 Cup Champions League T20 2004/05 Group stage – – 2005/06 Semi-Finalists – – 2006/07 Semi-Finalists – – 2008/09 Semi-Finalists – DNQ 2009 Runners-up – DNQ 2009/10 Semi-Finalists – DNQ 2010/11 Champions Semi-Finalists DNQ 2011/12 Group stage Semi-Finalists DNQ 2012/13 Champions Semi-Finalists DNQ 2013/14 Champions Did Not Held Group stage 2014/15 Runners-up Qualified – DNQ = Did not qualify
Fixtures and results
T20 results
+Summary of results by tournaments Played Wins Losses Tied % Win T20 Cup 2004/05 2 1 1 0 50.00% T20 Cup 2005/06 6 5 1 0 83.33% T20 Cup 2006/07 3 2 1 0 66.67% T20 Cup 2008/09 3 2 1 0 66.67% T20 Cup 2009 5 4 1 0 80.00% T20 Cup 2009/10 4 3 1 0 75.00% T20 Cup 2010/11 5 5 0 0 100.00% Super 8 2011 4 3 1 0 75.00% T20 Cup 2011/12 2 1 1 0 50.00% Super 8 2012 4 3 1 0 75.00% T20 Cup 2012/13 8 8 0 0 100.00% Super 8 2013 4 3 1 0 75.00% T20 Cup 2013/14 6 5 1 0 83.33% CLT20 2014 6 3 3 0 50.00% T20 Cup 2014/15 5 3 2 0 60.00% Total 67 51 16 0 76.11%
By Opposition OppositionPlayedWinsLossesTied% Win Domestic Abbottabad Falcons 6 5 1 0 83.33% Bahawalpur Stags 3 2 1 0 66.66% DM JAMALI Ibexes 2 2 0 0 100.00% Faisalabad Wolves 7 4 3 0 57.14% Hyderabad Hawks 4 4 0 0 100.00% Islamabad Leopards 6 6 0 0 100.00% Karachi Dolphins 4 2 2 0 50.00% Karachi Zebras 2 2 0 0 100.00% Lahore Eagles 0 0 0 0 – Multan Tigers 6 6 0 0 100.00% Peshawar Panthers 4 3 1 0 75.00% Quetta Bears 6 6 0 0 100.00% Rawalpindi Rams 4 3 1 0 75.00% Sialkot Stallions 7 3 4 0 42.85% International Sunfoil Dolphins 1 1 0 0 100.00% Kolkata Knight Riders 1 0 1 0 00.00% Mumbai Indians 1 1 0 0 100.00% Northern Knights 1 0 1 0 00.00% Perth Scorchers 1 0 1 0 00.00% Southern Express 1 1 0 0 100.00%Total 67 51 16 0 76.11%
CLT20 2014 season
Lahore Lions qualified first time for the Champions League Twenty20, becoming the third Pakistani team overall to participate in the tournament since its inception. Abdul Razzaq was not included in the squad as Pakistan Cricket Board rejected Muhammad Hafeez's request to add him. The squad contained the following players: Mohammed Hafeez(c), Ahmad Shahzad, Umar Siddique Khan, Muhammad Umar Akmal, Nasir Jamshaid, Muhammad Salman Ali, Asif Raza, Muhammad Mustafa Iqbal, Wahab Riaz, Aizaz Bin Ilyas Cheema, Imran Ali, Saad Naseem, Adnan Rasool, Muhammad Saeed and Ali Manzoor. The team defeated 2013 Champions Mumbai Indians and Southern Express of Sri Lanka to qualify for the main event. After a washout in their game against Chennai Super Kings, they defeated Dolphins of South Africa. But Lahore Lions played their last match against Perth Scorchers and lost it match which made them out of tournament. The captain Muhammad Hafeez was satisfied with the team for their exceptional performance in the event, he said: "I think our team's performance in the face of limited resources was remarkable. Unlike other big teams, we didn't have batting, bowling or fielding coaches with us, but we still managed to fight well. We learned a lot from the CLT20 and it's great for young domestic players to come and perform at such a big stage.” PCB decided to hold the domestic T20 competition in Pakistan on the same dates as the Champions League. This meant that a second Lahore Lions team played in the Pakistani tournament and the main team played in the Champions League 2014. The second XI were defeated in the finals of the domestic competition by Peshawar Panthers. No.DateOpponentVenueResultScorecard 1 Mumbai Indians Raipur Won by 6 wickets Cricinfo 2 Northern Knights Raipur Lost by 72 runs Cricinfo 3 Southern Express Raipur Won by 55 runs Cricinfo 4 Kolkata Knight Riders Hyderabad Lost by 4 wickets Cricinfo 5 Chennai Super Kings Bangalore Rain interrupted the match Cricinfo 6 Dolphins Bangalore Won by 16 runs Cricinfo 7 Perth Scorchers Bangalore Lost by 3 wickets Cricinfo
Captains' record List of captains of Lahore Lions for Twenty20 matches are as follows:
Player Span Match Won Lost Tied NR % Mohammad Yousuf 2005–2011 14 10 4 0 0 71.42 Imran Farhat 2005 1 1 0 0 0 100.00 Abdul Razzaq 2006–2011 13 10 3 0 0 76.92 Imran Tahir 2006 1 1 0 0 0 100.00 Kamran Akmal 2006–2015 9 7 2 0 0 77.77 Salman Butt 2010 4 3 1 0 0 75.00 Mohammad Hafeez 2012–2014 24 19 5 0 0 79.16 Azhar Ali 2014 5 3 2 0 0 60.00
Sponsors FR Cables was the sponsor of the Lahore Lions in 2010-11 Faysal Bank Twenty-20 Cup and were sponsored by FR Cables for the Faysal Bank Super 8 T20 Cup 2011 as well. Brighto Paints were the sponsors of Lions in 2014 Champions League Twenty20.
See also Pakistan Super League
References
External links Lahore Lions on ESPN Cricinfo