# Kotli Lions in 2021

Kotli Lions is a franchise cricket team that represents Kotli in the Kashmir Premier League. They were coached by Abdul Razzaq and captained by Kamran Akmal. Fakhar Zaman was originally appointed as captain but Kamran Akmal had to replace him due to the Pakistani tour of the West Indies.

## Squad

* Players with international caps are listed in bold.
* Ages are correct as of 3 July 2021
| No. | Name | Nationality | Birth date | Category | Batting style | Bowling style | Year signed | Notes |
| Batsmen |||||||||
| 12 | Abdullah Syed | United States | (1989-09-30)30 September 1989 (aged 31) | Emerging | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2021 | |
| 12 | Ahsan Ali | Pakistan | (1993-12-10)10 December 1993 (aged 27) | Silver | Right-handed | Leg break | 2021 | Post-draft signing |
| 45 | Asif Ali | Pakistan | (1991-10-01)1 October 1991 (aged 29) | Diamond | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | 2021 | |
| N/A | Fakhar Zaman | Pakistan | (1990-04-13)13 April 1990 (aged 31) | Icon | Left-handed | Left-arm orthodox spin | 2021 | |
| N/A | Syed Hashim Ali | Pakistan | | Emerging | Left-handed | | 2021 | |
| All-rounders |||||||||
| 44 | Khalid Usman | Pakistan | (1986-03-01)1 March 1986 (aged 35) | Silver | Right-handed | Left-arm orthodox spin | 2021 | |
| 48 | Hasan Raza | Pakistan | (1995-06-01)1 June 1995 (aged 26) | Emerging | Left-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | 2021 | |
| 97 | Saif Badar | Pakistan | (1998-07-03)3 July 1998 (aged 23) | Silver | Right-handed | Leg break | 2021 | Post-draft signing |
| Wicket-keepers |||||||||
| 23 | Kamran Akmal | Pakistan | (1982-01-13)13 January 1982 (aged 39) | Platinum | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2021 | Captain |
| 59 | Junaid Ali | Pakistan | (1995-12-06)6 December 1995 (aged 25) | Silver | Right-handed | | 2021 | |
| N/A | Abdul Rehman | Pakistan | | Emerging | | | 2021 | |
| Bowlers |||||||||
| 03 | Mujtaba Ghayas | Pakistan | (1987-07-27)27 July 1987 (aged 33) | Emerging | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2021 | Post-draft signing |
| 5 | Nadeem Khalil | Pakistan | (1997-11-01)1 November 1997 (aged 23) | Emerging | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | 2021 | Post-draft signing |
| 17 | Imran Khan | Pakistan | (1987-07-15)15 July 1987 (aged 33) | Gold | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | 2021 | |
| 88 | Akif Javed | Pakistan | (2000-10-10)10 October 2000 (aged 20) | Gold | Right-handed | Left-arm medium-fast | 2021 | |
| 97 | Irfanullah Shah | Pakistan | (1995-05-05)5 May 1995 (aged 26) | Silver | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | 2021 | |
| 100 | Khurram Shehzad | Pakistan | (1999-11-25)25 November 1999 (aged 21) | Silver | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | 2021 | Post-draft signing |
| N/A | Monty Panesar | England | (1982-04-25)25 April 1982 (aged 39) | Overseas | Left-handed | Left-arm orthodox spin | 2021 | Overseas; Pulled out of the tournament |
| N/A | Usman Qadir | Pakistan | (1993-08-10)10 August 1993 (aged 27) | Diamond | Left-handed | Right-arm leg break | 2021 | |
| N/A | Yasir Jan | Pakistan | | Emerging | | | 2021 | |

## Season standings
### Points table

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | L | NR | Pts | NRR |
| 1 | Rawalakot Hawks (C) | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0.228 |
| 2 | Muzaffarabad Tigers (R) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0.530 |
| 3 | Mirpur Royals (3rd) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | −0.323 |
| 4 | Overseas Warriors (4th) | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | −0.032 |
| 5 | Bagh Stallions | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | −0.201 |
| 6 | Kotli Lions | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | −0.107 |
* Top 4 teams qualified for the playoffs
* Advanced to Qualifier
* Advanced to Eliminator 1
Notes:
* C = Champions;
* R = Runner-up;
* (x) = Position at the end of the tournament;

## League fixtures and results

* Match 2 7 August 2021 14:00 Scorecard
| Kotli Lions 169 (20 overs) | v | Bagh Stallions 172/5 (19.4 overs) |
| Ahsan Ali 51 (37) Mohammad Imran 3/25 (4 overs) | | Asad Shafiq 43* (27) Imran Khan 3/30 (4 overs) |
* Bagh Stallions won by 5 wickets Muzaffarabad Cricket Stadium, Muzaffarabad Umpires: Ahsan Raza (Pak) and Ahmed Shahab (Pak) Player of the match: Ahsan Ali (Kotli Lions)
* Kotli Lions won the toss and elected to bat.
* Match 5 8 August 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Rawalakot Hawks | v | Kotli Lions |
* Match Abandoned Muzaffarabad Cricket Stadium, Muzaffarabad
* Match 8 10 August 2021 14:00 Scorecard
| Kotli Lions 195/4 (20 overs) | v | Muzaffarabad Tigers 196/5 (18.3 overs) |
| Asif Ali 67 (34) Mohammad Hafeez 1/10 (1 over) | | Zeeshan Ashraf 107* (62) Akif Javed 2/46 (4 overs) |
* Muzaffarabad Tigers won by 5 wickets Muzaffarabad Cricket Stadium, Muzaffarabad Umpires: Ghaffar Kazmi (Pak) and Rashid Riaz (Pak) Player of the match: Zeeshan Ashraf (Muzaffarabad Tigers)
* Kotli Lions won the toss and elected to bat
* Zeeshan Ashraf scored the first century in KPL history
* Match 11 11 August 2021 19:30 (N) Scorecard
| Mirpur Royals 211/6 (20 overs) | v | Kotli Lions 211/8 (20 overs) |
| Mukhtar Ahmed 61 (38) Mujtaba Ghayyas 2/23 (3 overs) | | Ahsan Ali 99 (47) Salman Irshad 3/39 (4 overs) |
* Match Tied (Mirpur Royals won the Super Over) Muzaffarabad Cricket Stadium, Muzaffarabad Umpires: Ahmed Shahab (Pak) and Faisal Afridi (Pak) Player of the match: Ahsan Ali (Kotli Lions)
* Kotli Lions won the toss and elected to field
* Super Over: Kotli Lions 2 all out, Mirpur Royals 4/0.
* Match 14 13 August 2021 10:30 Scorecard
| Overseas Warriors 211/6 (20 overs) | v | Kotli Lions 215/2 (19 overs) |
| Nasir Nawaz 66 (44) Khurram Shahzad 3/39 (4 overs) | | Kamran Akmal 60 (35) Faizan Saleem 1/15 (2 overs) |
* Kotli Lions won by 8 wickets Muzaffarabad Cricket Stadium, Muzaffarabad Player of the match: Kamran Akmal (Kotli Lions)
* Kotli Lions won the toss and elected to field

## Statistics
### Most runs

| Player | Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | HS | 100 | 50 |
| Ahsan Ali | 4 | 4 | 217 | 72.33 | 99 | 0 | 3 |
| Asif Ali | 4 | 4 | 142 | 47.33 | 67 | 0 | 1 |
| Kamran Akmal | 4 | 4 | 102 | 25.50 | 60 | 0 | 1 |
| Saif Badar | 4 | 3 | 89 | 44.50 | 39 | 0 | 0 |
| Abdullah Syed | 3 | 3 | 58 | 19.33 | 35 | 0 | 0 |
Source:

### Most wickets

| Player | Matches | Overs | Wickets | Average | BBI | 4w | 5w |
| Khurram Shahzad | 4 | 15.0 | 7 | 21.28 | 3/39 | 0 | 0 |
| Imran Khan | 4 | 15.3 | 4 | 37.50 | 3/30 | 0 | 0 |
| Mujtaba Ghayyas | 2 | 5.0 | 2 | 26.00 | 2/23 | 0 | 0 |
| Akif Javed | 2 | 8.0 | 2 | 38.00 | 2/46 | 0 | 0 |
| Irfanullah Shah | 3 | 12.0 | 2 | 54.50 | 1/35 | 0 | 0 |
Source: