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| "Rashid Khan's slogan Mastana" |
Leg spinners are usually gentle, cheerful, and cheerful. They don't need literal bombardment like fast bowlers to show off their skills, just finger magic is enough.
As a captain, Shaheen Afridi does not shy away from experimentation. The captain also has the facility to go to bat when he wants and start bowling himself when he wants to.
Shaheen Afridi is enjoying his power. This season, he has benefited from almost all the numbers in the middle order, but here, perhaps, for the first time, he has reached the right number at the right time.
By the time Shaheen took to the crease, the Qalandar's expected total was less than the capacity of the pitch. Although the pacers of Multan could not get enough results, after a strategic time-out, when Osama Mir was brought into the attack on the advice of Andy Flower, the Qalandars' feet faltered.
There was a need for someone as powerful as Shaheen Afridi, whose quick wrists could destroy Mohammad Rizwan's plans. While the plan in the death overs had settled on a wide line on full length, there was ultimately no line left in the length zone beyond the reach of Shaheen's long arms.
The best bowler of the tournament, Ehsanullah ended the season with his worst over and Shaheen Afridi's batting skills brought the match to life. Had the total been around 180 on this batting-friendly wicket, Multan's strong batting line would have crossed the line two overs earlier.
But when Shaheen started bowling himself, trying to find the in-swing from a full length as usual, he forgot that just a few moments ago he had bowled a full length on the same pitch. Usman Khan treated them the same way he treated the pacers of Multan.
Here the full length was proving to be the killer poison for the Pacers and if the matter had gone on like this, the dream of defending the title would have died. When Riley Russo began to destroy the hopes of the Qalandars, the Qalandars had only one player who could turn the tide.
Rashid Khan says that if a batsman is trying to avoid them, he feels great enjoyment, but when someone hits him for a six, then it is 'fun'. Suddenly a passion returns, his mind quickens, and the desire to take wickets awaken.
The fearlessness with which the Sultans started their pursuit of the trophy would never have been within the reach of the Qalandars if Russo had spent four more overs on the pitch with the same spirit. There, Rashid Khan's spell provided Zaman Khan and Shaheen Afridi with the required run rate from which both the pacers made it easy in the death overs.
The uniqueness of PSL 8 has been that for the first time in both the batting and bowling fields, instead of foreign players, local players have been playing a key role in the decisive stages. But on the final note of the tournament, there is a smile of a winner who, if not called local, does not matter even if called foreign.
Rashid Khan is usually seen smiling after taking a wicket, but his excitement after dismissing Russo was palpable. The aggressiveness shown earlier by Rousseau instilled in Rashid the same spirit that makes him 'lucky'.
Although Shaheen Afridi's skill set the finishing notes in both innings of the match, it was Rashid Khan's heroics in the middle overs that brought Qalandars back into the match and the trophy to Qalandars.