Team Outlook: Lahore

Lahore:

Last year team Lahore did a great job drafting their team as they finished only behind Cairo for the most wins. Although it didn’t pan out in the playoffs, their regular season could be considered a success… by some. That’s why Captain Aftab Sheikh decided to keep the core together with the “Hey, if its not really broken and it kinda works, do we really wana fix it?” mentality as half of the squad was brought back including AGM Amir Khalil who’s got a pretty heavy bat and a great OBP. Their team chemistry should be fun to watch as these guys had a great season last year and will look to improve as they try to claim that BSLN throne.

With the 3rd pick in the draft GM Aftab was more than thrilled with the fact that his boy Shamil Khadaroo was still available. He wasted no time in picking the BSL veteran who brings a ton of experience as not just as a player but also as a GM of the Sultans in the Sunday league. Aftab also brought back Khizer Channa and Salim Jaichi respectively as both had solid years putting up a combined 30 RBI’s and boasting an average north of 0.500. Originally the squad opted to snag big man Imran Qureshi who is one of the best 1st basemen in our league. He was then shipped off to Damascus in exchange for Shahid Saya in a deal that had a lot of us scratching our heads but hey, that’s why most of us aren’t GM’s. Captain Sheikh Sahab probably has the latest scouting report on big man Saya and was willing to give up a solid option to acquire him. If it pans out, like Kawhi did for the Raps, Masai Ujiri will have nothing on Aftab!

That being said, Shahid batted just under 500 last year but with one year under his belt, there is absolutely no reason he shouldn’t be able to up that average and add a few dingers to go along with it. Late in the draft, Lahore also picked up a veteran pitcher in Zia "Doc" Beg, who took home pitcher of the year honors last year. He was excellent on the mound and really helped Cairo dominate in the regular season. Expectations will be quite high for him as the team will look for him to confuse batters with his pitching wizardry. Imran Haq had a decent season with Cairo last year as he was available late for Lahore to snag. He’s a guy that showed potential last year and we’re hoping to see his average increase to 400-450 this year. The rest of the squad consists of new comers Salman Ahmad, Fawad Sheikh, Aftab Khan, and Mohammad Al-Sukhni. Salman Ahmad has played in BSL for a couple of years now and will join us on BSLN. Hopefully he can help his team by continuing to improve his average and getting base hits. The rest of the brothers will look to make their mark on BSLN in hopes to help their team achieve the ultimate goal. Let’s see how Captain Aftab and AGM Amir manage their squad as we head into season 2 of BSLN.