Peshawar Zalmi (Khpal Team) represents the people of Peshawar, the capital of KPK, in the HBL PSL. The owner of the team is Javed Afridi who is CEO of Haier Pakistan. The team Peshawar Zalmi (PZ) has played all 5 editions of the Pakistan Super League from 2016 to 2020.
Peshawar Zalmi has a unique record till now in the Pakistan Super League. It is the only team of HBL PSL who not only qualified for the playoffs in every edition of the PSL but they also played 3 finals as well. Out of these three finals, they were the winner for 1 time and runners up twice.
Quetta Gladiators also played 3 finals, but they couldn’t qualified for the playoff matches in PSL 2020. Karachi Kings also qualified for playoff matches for all 5 seasons, but they are not able to play a single final match yet.
You can watch Peshawar Zalmi playing against Lahore Qalandars on the 14th of November in the 2nd playoff match of HBL PSL V. The match will be live telecast from Gaddafi Stadium Lahore. Here you can check where to watch PSL live matches.
The team of Zalmi (Khpal Team) was formed in the year 2015 after Najam Sethi, the former chairman of PCB has announced the Pakistan Super League. Javed Afridi who is CEO of Haier in Pakistan and leading various social works is the owner of Peshawar Zalmi.
History of Peshawar Zalmi
As we said earlier, Peshawar Zalmi (PZ) is the only team that has qualified for the playoff matches in all 5 editions of the Pakistan Super League and qualified for the Final 3 times as well. They reached the final in 2017, 2018, and 2019. They also have won the final match in 2017 in the captaincy of Darren Sammy.
PSL 2016 for Peshawar Zalmi
Peshawar Zalmi started their journey of PSL under the captaincy of great Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Khan Afridi. They performed exceptionally well and won 6 matches out of 8 in the group stages. Peshawar Zalmi was at the top of the list on the points table after group stages. But then, they lost their 1st Playoff match against Quetta Gladiators and lost another playoff eliminator from Islamabad United. Overall, they played 10 matches in the tournament, have won 6 and lost 4.
PSL 2017 for Peshawar Zalmi
In 2017, Darren Sammy of West Indies leads the team of Peshawar Zalmi in the second season of HBL PSL. Once again, in the group stage, the Khpal team was on the top and played the qualifier match in the next stage against Quetta Gladiators. Again, they lost a nail biter on the last ball and Quetta qualified for the final. In the eliminator, Peshawar won against Karachi Kings and meet Quetta Gladiators in the final match of the HBL PSL 2017.
Like season 1 of HBL PSL, season 2 was also played in the UAE, but the final match was organized in Gaddafi Stadium of Lahore, Pakistan. The security situation in Pakistan was not satisfactory for some countries, so overseas players of Quetta Gladiators refused to visit Pakistan. Match winner for Quetta, Kevin Pietersen also refused to visit Pakistan. Whereas, Javed Afridi and Shahid Afridi convince all the overseas players to visit Pakistan for the final match.
Due to the absence of the main players, Quetta lost the final match. Peshawar Zalmi won that match convincingly even after setting a low total on the scorecard. They won the match with 58 runs and Darren Sammy was the player of the match.
PSL 2018 for Peshawar Zalmi
In the 3rd edition of PSL in 2018, Darren Sammy leads his team and qualified for the playoff matches. But this time Zalmi only manages to finish the group stage in 3rd place. This was the 3rd consecutive edition that Zalmi faces Gladiators in the eliminator playoff match. But this time they manage to beat Gladiators, unlike the previous two editions.
Then in the 2nd qualifier, they beat Karachi Kings and joins Islamabad united in the final match, who was the winner of PSL first edition. Peshawar lost this final match of 3rd edition as Islamabad United convincingly won the final match with 3 wickets and 3.1 overs spare.
PSL 2019 for Peshawar Zalmi
In the 4th edition of the Pakistan Super League, Darren Sammy again lead the team and qualified for the playoff matches. In this edition, again Peshawar Zalmi was on the top on points table like 1st and 2nd editions of PSL. They faced Quetta Gladiator in the 1st qualifier but lost that match.
Then in the 2nd qualifier, Zalmi faced the defending champions Islamabad United and defeated them with 48 runs margin. The match was played in National Stadium Karachi. Once again, Zalmi faced Quetta Gladiators in the final match of PSL. But this time they lost the match and Quetta Gladiators lift the trophy for the first time in PSL history.
This was the second time that the Peshawar Zalmi team remain runners-up in the PSL tournament.
PSL 2020 for Peshawar Zalmi
The 5th edition of the Pakistan Super League was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic after the group stages. In this edition, the successful captain of Peshawar, Darren Sammy, who was a one-time winner and runner-up two times changed during the mid of the tournament, and Wahab Riaz appointed as the new captain.
In the group stages, the team didn’t perform well but somehow, they managed to secure their place in the next stages. They qualified for the playoff matches on the basis of the net run rate and they are at 4th position on the points table.
PCB has announced a new schedule for PSL 2020 and the tournament started again in November 2020. This time, Peshawar Zalmi lost their eliminator match against Lahore Qalandars and they finished at number 4 on the points table.
Peshawar Zalmi’s Performance in PSL
| Year | Pld | Won | Lost | Tie&W | Tie&L | NR | SR(%) | Position | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60.00 | 3/5 | Play-offs |
| 2017 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 60.00 | 1/5 | Champions |
| 2018 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 53.84 | 2/6 | Runners-up |
| 2019 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58.33 | 2/6 | Runners-up |
| 2020 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44.44 | 4/6 | Play-Offs |
| Total | 57 | 31 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 55.35 | – | 1 Title |
Management and Staff
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
 Javed Afridi (Haier Pakistan) |
Owner |
| Mohammad Akram |
Director of Cricket Operations & Bowling Coach |
 Darren Sammy |
Head Coach |
 Hashim Amla |
Batting Coach |
| Nausherwan Effendi |
Chief Commercial Officer |
| Arshad Khan |
Team Manager |
| Waqas Ahmad |
Physiotherapist |
| Ghulam Farooq |
Media Communication Manager |
| Shams Afridi |
Finance Manager |
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 6 2021
| Player Name | Category | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Wahab Riaz |
Platinum | (C) Bowler |
 David Miller |
Platinum | Batsman |
| Shoaib Malik |
Platinum | All-Rounder |
 Mujeeb Ur Rahman |
Diamond | Bowler |
| Kamran Akmal |
Diamond | (Wk) Batsman |
 Sherfane Rutherford |
Diamond | Batsman |
| Haider Ali |
Gold | Batsman |
 Liam Livingstone |
Gold | Batsman |
| Amad Butt |
Gold | Bowler |
| Mohammad Imran |
Silver | All-Rounder |
| Imam-ul-Haq |
Silver | Batsman |
| Umaid Asif |
Silver | All-Rounder |
| Mohammad Irfan |
Silver | Bowler |
| Saqib Mahmood |
Silver | Bowler |
| Abrar Ahmed |
Emerging | Batsman |
| Aamir Ali |
Emerging | Bowler |
| Mohammad Imran |
Emerging | N/A |
Peshawar Zalmi Official Jersey for PSL 6
Owner of Peshawar Zalmi
Javed Afridi, CEO of Haier is the owner of Peshawar Zalmi aka Khpal Team.
Captain of Peshawar Zalmi
The current captain of Peshawar Zalmi is Wahab Riaz who is one of the finest fast bowlers of Pakistan’s national cricket team.
Head Coach
Darren Sammy who captained the team in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and a few matches of the 5th edition is the head coach of Peshawar Zalmi. He wins the HBL PSL trophy in the 2nd edition of HBL PSL in 2017 and his team was runners-up in 3rd and 4th editions of the Pakistan Super League.
Bowling Coach
Former Pakistani fast bowler, Muhammad Akram is the bowling coach of Peshawar Zalmi.
Batting Coach
The legend batsman from South Africa, Hashim Amla is the batting coach of Peshawar Zalmi.
Home Ground
Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar is the home ground of Peshawar Zalmi and this ground has a capacity of 35,000 people.
Brand Ambassador of Peshawar Zalmi
Javed Afridi has contracted with various famous stars of Pakistan as the Brand Ambassadors of Peshawar Zalmi. A few names are Hamza Ali Abbasi, Humaima Malik, Mahira Khan, Hania Amir, and Gul Panra.
But the recent brand ambassador of Zalmi is the famous Turkish actress Esra Bilgiç. The blockbuster drama of Turki Dirilis Ertugrul has a viewership from all over the world including Pakistan and Idia. Esra Bilgiç is part of that drama in the first 4 seasons as Halime Sultan.
