The 2021 Kashmir Premier League (also known as 2021 KPL or, for sponsorship reasons, SRG KPL 2021), was the inaugural season of the Kashmir Premier League which was established by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The tournament featured six teams and was held from 6 August 2021 to 17 August 2021 in Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir. The opening ceremony and first match of the tournament were held at the Muzaffarabad Stadium on 6 August 2021.
The final was held on 17 August and saw Rawalakot Hawks defeating Muzaffarabad Tigers by 8 runs to win the first title. Asif Afridi of Rawalakot Hawks was awarded the man of the match award for his bowling figures of 3/21.
Franchises
TeamOwnerCityCaptainCoach Bagh Stallions Hameed Khan & Tauqir Sultan AwanBaghShan MasoodAbdul Rehman Kotli Lions Faisal Nadeem, Khalid Zia and Nasir YousufKotliKamran AkmalAbdul Razzaq Mirpur Royals Adil Waheed & Suleman RazaMirpurShoaib MalikInzamam-ul-Haq Muzaffarabad Tigers Arshad Khan TanoliMuzaffarabadMohammad HafeezMohtashim Rasheed Overseas Warriors Muhammad Zakir AliKashmiri diasporaImad WasimMushtaq Ahmed Rawalakot Hawks Jan Wali ShaheenRawalakotShahid AfridiArshad Khan
Squads
Bagh Stallions Kotli Lions Mirpur Royals Muzaffarabad Tigers Overseas Warriors Rawalakot Hawks Shan Masood (c)
(wk) Iftikhar Ahmed Umaid Asif Rohail Nazir (wk) Mohammad Ilyas Mohammad Imran Zeeshan Malik Usman Mughal Zeeshan Zameer Furqan Shafique Sufyan Moqeem Mohammad Junaid Amir Sohail Kamran Akmal (c) (wk)
Asif Ali Usman Qadir Imran Khan Akif Javed Khalid Usman Irfanullah Shah Junaid Ali Abdullah Syed Syed Hashim Ali Hasan Raza Yasir Jan Abdul Rehman Shoaib Malik (c)
Sharjeel Khan Khushdil Shah Mohammad Irfan Salman Irshad Amad Butt Mukhtar Ahmed Abrar Ahmed Muhammad Akhlaq (wk) Shadab Majeed Danyal Allah Ditta Muhammad Taha Ibtesam-ul-Haq Ammad Alam Mohammad Hafeez (c) Tillakaratne Dilshan Sohail Tanvir Sohaib Maqsood Mohammad Wasim Arshad Iqbal Zeeshan Ashraf (wk) Sohail Akhtar Usama Mir Anwar Ali Arsalan Arif Tahir Hussain Inzamam-ul-Haq Usman Arshad Taimoor Sultan Imad Wasim (c) Muhammad Musa
Herschelle Gibbs Haider Ali Azam Khan (wk) Sohail Khan Qasim Akram Hammad Azam Naveed Malik Waleed Ahmed Raza-ul-Mustafa Abbas Afridi Rashid Naseer Uthman Ali Khan Shahid Afridi (c) (wk)
Hussain Talat Ahmed Shehzad Danish Aziz Waqas Maqsood Zafar Gohar Bismillah Khan (wk) Imran Randhawa Kashif Ali Faisal Altaf Zaman Khan Samiullah Afridi Shahid Ilyas
Promotion in media The league was promoted on social media by the hashtag #KheloAazadiSe (lit. play with freedom). The brand ambassador of the 2021 KPL was Shahid Afridi and the official singer was Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
Anthem
The official anthem of the KPL, “The Aazadi Anthem” was released on 16 February 2021 and it was sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
Opening ceremony The opening ceremony took place on the 6th of August 2021.
Venue The whole tournament took place in Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir. Around 2,500 spectators were allowed to watch the match in stadium due to COVID-19.
MuzaffarabadMuzaffarabad Cricket StadiumCapacity: 10,000
Umpires
Aleem Dar Ahsan Raza Asif Yaqoob Rashid Riaz Shozab Raza Faisal Afridi Ghaffar Kazmi Imtiaz Iqbal Ahmed Shahab Majid Hussain Mohammad Sajid
League stage
Points table
Summary Bagh StallionsKotli LionsMirpur RoyalsMuzaffarabad TigersOverseas WarriorsRawalakot Hawks Bagh Stallions Kotli Lions Mirpur Royals Muzaffarabad Tigers Overseas Warriors Rawalakot Hawks
League progression
Fixtures The schedule for the tournament was announced on 2 August 2021. The matches from 12 August onwards were rescheduled due to the Pakistan vs West Indies test series as the timings coincided with each other.
Playoffs
Preliminary
Qualifier
Eliminator 1
Eliminator 2
Final
Statistics
Most runs Player Team Matches Runs High score Sharjeel Khan Mirpur Royals 6 296 141 Zeeshan Ashraf Muzaffarabad Tigers 7 284 107 not out Shan Masood Bagh Stallions 5 254 78 Kashif Ali Rawalakot Hawks 7 242 114 not out Shoaib Malik Mirpur Royals 7 240 77 Source: Cricinfo
Most wickets Player Team Matches Wickets Best bowling Salman Irshad Mirpur Royals 7 16 3/25 Asif Afridi Rawalakot Hawks 7 12 3/21 Amad Butt Mirpur Royals 7 11 3/20 Zaman Khan Rawalakot Hawks 6 10 3/18 Umaid Asif Bagh Stallions 5 9 3/20 Source: Cricinfo
Awards
Individual awards
Name Team Award Hussain Talat Rawalakot Hawks Player of the Tournament Zeeshan Ashraf Muzaffarabad Tigers Best Batsman of the tournament Asif Afridi Rawalakot Hawks Best Bowler of the tournament Mohammad Wasim Muzaffarabad Tigers Best Fielder of the tournament Bismillah Khan Rawalakot Hawks Best Wicket-keeper of the tournament Salman Irshad Mirpur Royals Best Kashmiri of the tournament
Dream Team PlayersShan Masood Zeeshan Ashraf (wk) Ahsan Ali Kashif Ali Hussain Talat Anwar Ali Shahid Afridi (c) Mohammad Wasim Asif Afridi Salman Irshad Zaman Khan Arshad Iqbal (12th man)
Controversies On 31 July 2021, it was reported that foreign cricketers were requested by the Indian cricket board (BCCI) against taking part in the inaugural Kashmir Premier League (KPL) cricket tournament. Former Pakistani wicket keeper Rashid Latif tweeted that BCCI is warning other cricket boards that if their former players took part in Kashmir Premier League, they won't be allowed entry in India or allowed to work in Indian cricket at any level or in any capacity. Former South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs, who played for the Overseas Warriors, also accused BCCI of pressuring him to not play in the KPL. The Pakistan cricket board (PCB) expressed displeasure at the reports that BCCI is trying to prevent players from joining the tournament and said that it would raise the issue with the relevant ICC forum. Responding to Gibbs and the PCB, the BCCI said that they are well within their rights to take decisions with respect to the cricketing ecosystem in India.
On 1 August 2021, former England spinner Monty Panesar pulled out of the tournament. He took to Twitter to reveal the news and said that, "I have decided not to participate in the KPL because of the political tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir issues. I don't want to be in the middle of this, it would make me feel uncomfortable." Panesar further said in an interview that "BCCI had 'advised' him that if he played in the event, the 'consequences' of his decision could include not being granted a visa to India in the future and not being allowed to work in the country."
On 2 August 2021, the BCCI urged ICC not to recognise the Kashmir Premier League due to the disputed nature of Kashmir region between India and Pakistan. In response, the ICC clarified that the tournament doesn't come under their jurisdiction as it is not an international tournament. The 2021 KPL received 15 million views within the first 5 matches and broke the record for Pakistan's most viewed live sports event launch on digital media. The President of the KPL, Arif Malik, said that the BCCI's efforts to stop the league only popularised it instead.
The KPL did not pay players for any player awards (e.g., man of the match) and end of the season awards. They later cleared all player related dues in June 2022.
Notes
References
External links League Records 2021