Dahani dedicates PSL heroics to mother, late father

Pacer Shahnawaz Dahani dedicated his Pakistan Super League 2021 success to his mother and late father, after the Multan Sultans won the trophy and the fast bowler becoming the best bowler and best emerging player of the sixth edition of the tournament.

Multan Sultans won their maiden PSL title by thumping 2017 champion Peshawar Zalmi by 47 runs in the final on Thursday.

Sohaib Maqsood celebrated his Pakistan recall at 34 after five years with an unbeaten 65, and South African Rilee Rossouw reserved his best for the final by smashing 50 off 21 balls in Multan’s imposing total of 206-4.

Peshawar, who opted to chase after winning the toss, got brief momentum from veteran Shoaib Malik’s 47 off 28 balls but was restricted to 159-9.

Legspinner Imran Tahir claimed his three wickets in his last over while Zimbabwe fast bowler Blessing Muzarabbani picked up the important wicket of power-hitter Hazratullah Zazai early to take the sting out of Peshawar’s run chase.

Dahani managed to take 20 wickets during the PSL 2021, becoming the third bowler to take as many wickets in the tournament.

Dahani took to Twitter to express his joy at the achievements, dedicating them to his parents.

“Alhamdullah!. To be best emerging player and best bowler of the tournament in thePSLt20 is like dream come [true],” he tweeted.

The fast bowler dedicated his achievements to his mother “who always prays for me and to my late father (if he was here would be proud of me)”.

Dahani has come a long way, from playing bare-foot with a tape-ball on an uneven field to achieving laurels at the PSL. He didn’t have any facilities in his village, not even a proper connection to watch live cricket.

He would borrow shoes from his friends and do “jugaars” to watch live streams of cricket matches around the world.

“I was passionate about bowling fast and was known in my village for my fast bowling, that’s why many there had named me 3G bowler – to relate the speed with the speed of the internet,” Dahani had said then.

He also mentioned how he had to borrow shoes from a friend to appear in the U-19 trials for his district.

Meanwhile, three players each from Islamabad United and Multan are part of the PSL-6 dream team, which was selected by former international cricketers following the conclusion of the T20 tournament.

Multan’s Mohammad Rizwan was named captain of the team after he inspired his side to rise to second from fifth position following the conclusion of the 30 league matches.

Rizwan finished the tournament with 500 runs with four half-centuries from 12 matches at an average of 45.45. He also took 20 catches to win the ‘best wicketkeeper award’.

Of the 11 players, selected on the basis of their contributions as well as the impact of their performances on team results, Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi and Wahab Riaz have been selected for the second time.

Babar and Shaheen are the only two players who have retained their places from the 2020 side.

Babar has been chosen to open the innings with Afghanistan’s Hazratullah Zazai, with Colin Munro, Sohaib Maqsood, Mohammad Rizwan and Asif Ali forming the middle-order.

Wahab will lead the bowlers’ pack that also includes Hasan, Shaheen, Dahani and Rashid Khan of Afghanistan.

The team was selected by a panel of former international cricketers and commentators that included David Gower, Pommie Mbangwa, Ramiz Raja and Sana Mir.

Agencies