# Lahore Lions

Lahore Lions (Urdu: لاہور لائنز, Punjabi: لہور لائنز abbreviated as LIO) was a Pakistani franchise cricket team representing the city of Lahore and was 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 played in the Haier T20 Cup. The team won its first title in 2010 where they defeated Karachi Dolphins by 37 runs at their 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 | Birth date | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
| Batsmen |||||||
| 23 | Nasir Jamshed | (1989-12-06) 6 December 1989 (age 35) | Left-handed | | |
| 78 | Babar Azam | (1994-10-15) 15 October 1994 (age 30) | Right-handed | Right-arm legbreak | |
| 79 | Umar Siddiq | (1992-12-30) 30 December 1992 (age 32) | Left-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| All-rounders |||||||
| 80 | Agha Salman | (1993-11-23) 23 November 1993 (age 31) | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| 81 | Mohammad Hafeez | (1980-10-07) 7 October 1980 (age 44) | Right-handed | Right-arm off spin | Vice Captain |
| 82 | Shoaib Iqbal | (1996-03-15) 15 March 1996 (age 29) | Right-handed | Right-arm legbreak | |
| Wicket-keepers |||||||
| 83 | Umar Akmal | (1990-05-26) 26 May 1990 (age 34) | Right-handed | | part-time spinner |
| 84 | Kamran Akmal | (1985-05-26) 26 May 1985 (age 39) | Right-handed | | Captain |
| Bowlers |||||||
| 99 | Asif Raza | (1987-01-11) 11 January 1987 (age 38) | Left-handed | Right-arm fast medium | |
| 100 | Wahab Riaz | (1985-06-28) 28 June 1985 (age 39) | Right-handed | Left-arm fast | |
| 23 | Aizaz Cheema | (1987-01-11) 11 January 1987 (age 38) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast medium | |
| 24 | Imran Ali | (1980-10-21) 21 October 1980 (age 44) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast medium | |
| 08 | Adnan Rasool | (1981-05-01) 1 May 1981 (age 43) | Right-handed | Right-arm off spin | |
| 87 | Mustafa Iqbal | (1989-08-30) 30 August 1989 (age 35) | Left-handed | Left-arm orthodox | |
| 88 | Mohammad Saeed | (1983-10-12) 12 October 1983 (age 41) | Right-handed | Right-arm fast medium | |
| 78 | Ali Manzoor | (1993-08-01) 1 August 1993 (age 31) | 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

| Opposition | Played | Wins | Losses | Tied | % 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. | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Scorecard |
| 1 | September 13 | Mumbai Indians | Raipur | 4Won by 6 wickets | Cricinfo |
| 2 | September 14 | Northern Knights | Raipur | 4Lost by 72 runs | Cricinfo |
| 3 | September 16 | Southern Express | Raipur | 4Won by 55 runs | Cricinfo |
| 4 | September 21 | Kolkata Knight Riders | Hyderabad | 4Lost by 4 wickets | Cricinfo |
| 5 | September 25 | Chennai Super Kings | Bangalore | 4Rain interrupted the match | Cricinfo |
| 6 | September 27 | Dolphins | Bangalore | 4Won by 16 runs | Cricinfo |
| 7 | September 30 | Perth Scorchers | Bangalore | 4Lost 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.