Lahore Lions
| لاہور لائنز | |
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| Captain: | Kamran Akmal |
|---|---|
| Coach: | Mohsin Kamal |
| City: | Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan |
| Colours: | |
| Owner: | LRCA PCB |
| Founded: | 2004 |
| Home ground: | LCCA Ground Gaddafi Stadium |
| Capacity: | 62,250 |
| Manager: | Shafiq Ahmed |
| Haier T20 Cup wins: | 3 (2011),(2014) |
| CLT20 wins: | 0 |
| Official website: | lahorelions.pcb.com.pk |
Lahore Lions (Urdu: لاہور لائنز, abbreviated as LIO) is a Pakistani franchise cricket team representing the city Lahore and is one of the 19 domestic teams. The team was established by Lahore Regional Cricket Association in 2004/05 in its home ground Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Domestically, the team plays in the Haier T20 Cup. The team won its first title in 2010 where they defeated Karachi Dolphins by 37 runs in their home ground Gaddafi Stadium.
Lahore Lions are the most successful Twenty20 team in the history of Lahore Regional Cricket Association, and the second most successful in the country after the Sialkot Stallions. The team has won T20 Cup 2010/11 under the captaincy of Shoaib Iqbal Joiya & qualified for the inaugural Super-8 T20 Cup.Lahore Lions have won 2013–14 season and qualified for the Champions League T20.
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.
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