2020 - Team Previews

Team Medina

Captain Mo Kala has been leading the Medina Faithful’s since day 1 of BSLN and this year is no different as he teams up with super hot shot AGM Hamid Malik to help continue his legacy. Hamid Malik will be the new #2 on team Medina and will look to build on his 2 all star-appearances. Medina had the first overall pick and didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger on Omer Chaudhry. His experience along with his leadership (and the Chaudhry Shuffle) are valuable assets and will be leaned on to help train/build chemistry with the rest of the team-mates. When Medina’s turn came back around, and Robocop was still available, the duo didn’t hesitate to snag him. Tanseer Khawaja has been known to control the mound with his pitching and at the same time help mentor some of the new guys. Medina continued to stack their team with veterans like, Suleman Mann, Imran Qureshi, Sunny Murad and the one and only Jay “The mechanic” Ahmad. As the draft was nearly complete, Medina rounded up Umair Ashraf, Omar Khan and Atif Pervez who played a major role in Medina’s offense last year. Medina also decided to take a chance on 2 new comers, Aslam Abdullah and Fawad Shaikh. Fawad Shaikh has played softball for a long time and will rely on his past experience to contribute to Medina’s winning ways. Aslam Abdullah might be the difference this year for Medina as he flew under the radar and landed on Medina’s doorstep. Aslam is an all-round player who can help in various ways and will look to make some noise in his BSLN Debut.

Medina may have one of the strongest outfields and will look to make most of their impact on defense. If these guys can build some chemistry and learn to play off one another in this short season, Medina is poised to make another deep playoff run especially when being led by “Kala Mamba”. Can the dynamic duo of Kala and Malik help lead Medina to the promise land and bring home a 2nd championship in 3 years? We’re about to find out!! Game 1, Medina vs Damascus. 7pm SHARP!! LETS GOOOOOO

 

Team Lahore

Team Lahore brings back most of its core from the first two seasons. Dubbed “The Rexdale Boyz”. Lahore has added top talents in Ismail Kara and Nivaan Latif to help take Lahore to their championship aspirations.  Like their 2nd overall pick Ismail Kara, Lahore continued to select new to the league players Omar Khattab, Saad Ibrahimi and Arsalan Abdullah.  Little is known about these players, If they can contribute early, Lahore could be a potent offensive team.

In order to keep the core together Lahore made a block buster trade sending Zain Khilji for former gold glove first basemen Salim Jaichi.  The move left a hole in centre field for Lahore, Captains Aftab sheikh and Amir Khalil will have to work to find solutions for Lahore to reach their title hopes.

Lahore does have depth, Fawad Shaikh will be expected to grow from his rookie season. Neal Irfaan should build on his breakout season last year both at the plate and defensively.  Shamil Khadaroo should continue to be serviceable both at the plate and in the field. Pitcher Zia Beg mans the mound for Lahore for a second season.

Lahore goes into week one with depth at the plate, with two legitimate power bats, but are expecting a lot from first year players.  Although they have depth in the outfield they are lacking and elite defender to control the outfield. 

Win or lose, Lahore is looking forward to a fun season while growing the brotherhood on the team.

 

Team Damascus

Captain Safwan Khan takes the helm of the Damascus ship once again. He is joined by Salman Ahmad as his assistant. Safwan would be looking to take his team to the final again and hoping to lift the trophy this time. Damascus had the last pick and grabbed Bilal Javed in their first pick who they later traded for Imran Merchant, strengthening their defence. For their second pick, they did not miss the opportunity to grab “post shadi” Hassan Chaudhry and would be looking to benefit from his team building, all round abilities and overall game experience. After the first two picks, team Damascus was sitting pretty with 3 solid batters and 3 solid fielders.

Captain Safwan continued to boost his team’s offence by picking two all-stars Farooq sani, “no one can stop my cricket shots” and Riyad, “the better”, Ramajun. Shane Worthington and Hatf Sohail, who played a major role in the team’s appearance in the final last year, will be wearing the team Damascus jersey again. They continued to pick Hasan, “desert” Afzal, Aftab, “I can feel no pain”, Khan and Awais Malik. Abbas Allidina makes his debut in BSLN and will benefit the team with his past experience from the JMS league. Salman will be taking the mound and looking to improve on his rookie year pitching.

Damascus is packing a strong defense and offense and one of the best all around teams. If they can quickly build the team chemistry and overcome the mental lapses, they will be a strong competitor for the championship. Time to put in work Damascus and LET’S HAVE FUN!

 

Team Cordoba

Team Cordoba is keeping its core intact with several players returning from the championship team. In 2020, the team added Triple A (Ahmad Amad, Akif Waheed, Abdul Butt) who are some of the former players that are returning from year 1. So, the team should hit the ground running with strong team chemistry.

The GM agreed to take on the 13th player in Abdul Butt (aka Big Butt) via trade, as Abdul Butt promised the team for a breakout year. Will he hit his first homerun in year 3?

The team has also added BSL veteran Zain Khilji and thus became one of the most top-heavy teams in the league. Zain Khilji's contributions will be key on both offensive and defensive end for Cordoba's success.

Cordoba has always been a batting juggernaut and that hasn’t changed this year however, there are several question marks on the defensive end. They will need their new members Bilal Malik and Furquan Usman to learn the game and contribute on the defensive end.

With no clear favorites so far, Cordoba has their work cut out for them to contend for the title again.