Islamabad United

Pakistan

Founded

2015

Arena

Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium · 15,000 cap

Islamabad United (Urdu: اسلام‌آباد یونائیٹڈ‎) is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The team's nickname is IU. Islamabad United are the inaugural champions of the Pakistan Super League. The team is nominally based in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan and was formed in 2015 to compete in the first season of the Pakistan Super League. The franchise is owned by Leonine Global Investments through its sports entity Leonine Global Sports, owned by Amna Naqvi and Ali Naqvi. The franchise won the first PSL title, defeating Quetta Gladiators in the final. Shoaib Naveed is the Chief Operating Officer of the franchise, Rehan Ul Haq is its General Manager and Hassan Cheema is the Strategy Manager. The franchise won their second title in the third season of the PSL, by defeating Peshawar Zalmi in the final by three wickets, and is currently the most successful franchise in the Pakistan Super League history with the most title wins (two). The team's home-ground is the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The team is coached by Johan Botha, replacing Dean Jones who coached the side from the first season till the fourth season. Shadab Khan was named as the captain of the team before PSL 5, with that he became the youngest captain in PSL history. The team's bowling coach is Pakistani fast bowler Rumman Raees while Saeed Ajmal is team's assistant coach. The leading run-scorer of the team is Luke Ronchi, while Faheem Ashraf is the leading wicket-taker.

Lahore Qalandars

Pakistan

Founded

2015

Arena

Gaddafi Stadium · 27,000 cap

Lahore Qalandars (Urdu: لاہور قلندرز‎; Punjabi: لہور قلندرز; abbreviated as LQ) is a Pakistani professional cricket franchise which plays in the Pakistan Super League. The home ground of the team is Gaddafi Stadium. It nominally represents the city of Lahore in the league. The team is owned by Qatar Lubricants Company Limited (QALCO). The team is currently captained by Sohail Akhtar. The team is coached by Aaqib Javed, a former Pakistani cricketer. Lahore Qalandars is owned by Rana brothers. Lahore Qalandars was the second-most expensive franchise, and one of the few teams sold to an international company. The team finished at the bottom spot in the points table in each of the first four seasons of the PSL, before making their first appearance in the final in the 2020 edition. Fakhar Zaman is the leading run-scorer and Shaheen Shah Afridi is the leading wicket-taker for the side. Afridi is also the Qalandars' brand ambassador.