PSL 2023: Billings, Jordan to join Lahore Qalandars as Shai Hope departs

Two young English wicket-keeper batters Jordan Cox and Sam Billings will join the Lahore Qalandars' squad on February 23 and 25 respectively, the franchise media manager shared on Tuesday.

Wicket-keeper batter Jordan Cox was representing the England Lions against Sri Lanka A in an ODI series that concluded on Tuesday. He would join the Qalanaders squad on February 23, while Sam Billings would reach Lahore on February 25.

Meanwhile, wicket-keeper batter Shai Hope would depart from Pakistan to join the West Indies team after he was named as the new captain of the West Indies ODI team. The wicket-keeper batter scored 47 runs in Qalandars' victory against Gladiators on Tuesday.

In a presser after his last game of the season, Hope said he enjoyed playing in PSL, adding that the league has very high standards. "I enjoyed my time here. It is a fantastic tournament and I had a great time at Qalandars' camp. I hope to join them back soon," he said.

Qalandars back with a bang

After suffering a 67-run loss against Karachi Kings on Sunday, the Qalandars came back strongly with a 63-run victory against Quetta Gladiators at Karachi's National Bank Cricket Arena (NBCA) on Tuesday.

The Qalandars batted brilliantly and scored 198 in their 20 overs, and restricted Quetta to 135.

For his brilliant spell of 3 for 22, the Qalandars' skipper Shaheen Afridi was named the player of the match.

Qalandars will now travel to their home ground to play the rest of their league games. They have so far won two out of three games in this tournament, and are in the second spot on the points table currently.

They started their PSL 8 campaign on a winning note against Multan Sultans at their home ground. They travelled to Karachi to play their next game against the home side, where they lost by 67 runs.

Their collective performance in the third game on Tuesday earned them a convincing victory against Gladiators.

Qalandars will leave for Lahore tomorrow.