Lahore Qalandars express joy over Shaheen Afridi's nomination for ICC award

• "We are all praying for the fast bowler," says Lahore Qalandars CEO Rana Atif.
•  Says if Shaheen doesn’t get the ICC award this year, he will surely get it next year.
• Says PSL will hopefully not be affected by COVID-19 as most people, as opposed to last year, are now vaccinated.

Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Lahore Qalandars' chief executive officer (CEO) Rana Atif has expressed his joy over pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi's nomination for International Cricket Council (ICC) award.

On Sunday, Atif said that Shaheen's nomination for ICC awards is an "honour" and that the "Lahore Qalandar wish and pray for him to get ICC Player of the Year Award.”

He further said that if Shaheen doesn’t get the ICC award this year, he will surely get it next year.

"We are all praying for the fast bowler," he said.

Recently Lahore Qalandars had appointed Shaheen as the team captain, while he was also nominated for the prestigious ICC accolade.

Talking about finding hidden cricket talent in the country, the CEO said that Lahore Qalandars are achieving their targets.

It is our aim to bring young heroes upfront and we will be doing that in the future too," he said, adding that the franchise wants PSL events to be played consistently in the country.

"Pakistan has taken great preventive measures to control the COVID-19 virus and has somewhat succeeded in it," he said. "Now, we are hoping that during the PSL, the COVID situation will remain under control and the league will not be affected."

It should be noted that in the past, the COVID-19 vaccination rate was too low in the country but now many citizens have received the jabs, he said, therefore, PSL will hopefully not be affected.

Atif also said that if some cases of COVID-19 come up during the PSL, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will handle the situation.