Quetta Gladiators facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Quetta Gladiators

کوئٹہ گلیڈی ایٹرز
Nickname(s)	Shan-e-Pakistan Purple Force
League	Pakistan Super League
Personnel
Captain	Saud Shakeel
Coach	Sarfaraz Ahmed
Bowling coach	Krishmar Santokie
Owner	Nadeem Omar
Team information
City	Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan,
Founded	2015; 10 years ago (2015)
Home ground	Bugti Stadium
Capacity	20,000
History
PSL wins	1 (2019)
Official website	www.quettagladiators.com
Playing kit

The Quetta Gladiators are a professional Twenty20 cricket team from Pakistan. They play in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The team is based in Quetta, which is the capital city of Balochistan, Pakistan.

The Gladiators won the PSL championship in 2019. They often play their home games at the Gaddafi Stadium. The team was created in 2015 when the Pakistan Super League started. Their official home ground is Bugti Stadium.

Currently, Saud Shakeel is the team captain. Sarfaraz Ahmed is the head coach, and Moin Khan is the team manager. The top run-scorer for the team is Sarfaraz Ahmed. The player who has taken the most wickets is Mohammad Nawaz.

Team History

In December 2015, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the owners for the first season of the Pakistan Super League. The Quetta team was bought by Omar Associates, a company from Karachi, for $11 million.

Early Seasons: Runners-Up in 2016 and 2017

Grant Elliott took 11 wickets in six matches for the Gladiators.

The Quetta Gladiators started their 2016 season very well. They won against Islamabad United and Karachi Kings. They also had a close win against Peshawar Zalmi. Even after a loss to Lahore Qalandars, they bounced back with a big win over Islamabad. This win helped them reach the top of the league table. They were the first team to qualify for the play-offs in 2016.

Quetta finished second in the league, winning six out of eight matches. In the first play-off match, they beat Peshawar by just one run. This win sent them to the final. However, they lost the final to Islamabad United by six wickets. Ahmed Shehzad was their top run-scorer with 290 runs. Mohammad Nawaz was their best wicket-taker with 13 wickets.

Rilee Rossouw scored 255 runs and was the leading run-scorer for the team in 2017.

For the 2017 season, Quetta made some changes to their team. They signed new international players like Rilee Rossouw and Tymal Mills.

In their first game of 2017, Quetta Gladiators successfully defended a low score against the Lahore Qalanders, winning by 8 runs. They then beat Karachi Kings by 7 wickets. Rilee Rossouw played a fantastic unbeaten innings of 76 runs in that match.

Later in the tournament, they chased down a huge target of 201 runs against Lahore Qalandars. Kevin Pietersen and Sarfaraz Ahmed were key in this chase. Pietersen scored 88 runs from only 42 balls. Quetta became the first team to qualify for the play-offs again.

In the play-off match, they once more beat Peshawar Zalmi by just one run in a very exciting game. This meant they reached the final for the second year in a row. In the final, they faced Peshawar Zalmi again. Unfortunately, Quetta lost the final by 58 runs. Some of their key players, like Kevin Pietersen and Rilee Rossouw, did not play in the final due to security concerns.

2018 Season

In 2018, Quetta lost their first game against Karachi Kings. But they quickly recovered with a big 9-wicket win over Lahore Qalandars. This was their largest win by wickets at the time.

They continued to play well, beating Islamabad United. However, they lost a very close match to Peshawar Zalmi. They also had a tough loss against Multan Sultans, where their batting collapsed.

Later in the season, Quetta found their winning form again. They won a thrilling match against Multan Sultans by 2 wickets. They then beat Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi. In the game against the Kings, Shane Watson scored an amazing 90 runs.

2019 Season: Champions!

The 2019 season was a great one for the Gladiators! They finished second in the group stage, winning seven out of ten matches. They then defeated Peshawar Zalmi in the qualifier match.

In the final held in Karachi, the Gladiators played Peshawar Zalmi again. Quetta Gladiators won the match by 8 wickets, claiming their first-ever PSL title! Mohammad Hasnain was named the man of the match for his excellent performance.

Recent Seasons: 2020-2024

In the 2020 season, Quetta started with a win but then had mixed results. They ended up finishing fifth in the league and did not make it to the play-offs for the first time.

For the 2021 season and 2022 season, the Gladiators struggled and finished at the bottom or near the bottom of the league table.

In the 2023 season, the Gladiators played some good matches. They had a memorable game against Peshawar Zalmi where Zalmi scored 243 runs, with Babar Azam scoring 115. However, Quetta Gladiators chased down this huge target, with Jason Roy scoring an incredible 143 runs to win the match. Despite this, they finished sixth in the league.

In the 2024 season, Quetta Gladiators made it to the semi-finals. However, they were defeated by Islamabad United in that match.

Team Identity

The team's name and logo were revealed in January 2016. The logo shows a Roman 'Galea' helmet, like those worn by ancient gladiators. Two bats are placed like swords next to the helmet. The team's main colors are purple and golden.

The team's special chant is Kai Kai Quetta. This comes from a war cry used by the Baloch Regiment during World War II. It means 'we are coming'.

Team Anthems

The Quetta Gladiators have had several official songs:

• 2016 PSL: "Chaa Jaye Quetta" by Faakhir Mehmood and Faheem Allan Fakir
• 2017 PSL: "Chah Gaya Quetta" by Faakhir Mehmood featuring Sarfaraz Ahmed
• 2018 PSL: "Agae Shaan Se Hum" by Zordaar11 featuring Faakhir Mehmood and Aima Baig
• 2019 PSL: "We The Gladiators" by Dwayne Bravo / "Quetta Gladiator Anthem 2019" by Bayaan
• 2020 PSL: "Shaan-e-Pakistan Hain Hum" by Harris Jalil Mir and Hasan Bin Hisam
• 2021 PSL: "Aar Ya Paar" by Raamis
• 2022 PSL: "Shaan-e-Pakistan" by Bilal Maqsood featuring Ahmed Murtaza
• 2023 PSL: "We're The Champions" by Dwayne Bravo

Team Ambassadors

The Quetta Gladiators were the first team to have an official mascot, named "Gladdy."

They have also had several famous ambassadors:

• In 2017, pop singer Annie Khalid became an ambassador.
• Footballer Kaleemullah and MMA fighter Ahmed Mujtaba also joined.
• Maya Ali and Faakhir Mehmood were ambassadors in 2018.
• Maya Ali continued her role in 2019, 2020, and 2021. Actor Bilal Ashraf joined her in 2021.
• In 2022, actors Adnan Siddiqui and Ushna Shah, and comedian Syed Shafaat Ali were featured in the team's anthem music video.

Current Squad

No.	Name	Nationality	Birth date	Category	Batting style	Bowling style	Year signed	Notes
Batsmen
77	Rilee Rossouw	South Africa	(1989-10-09) 9 October 1989 (age 35)	Diamond	Left-handed	Right-arm off break	2024	Overseas
45	Saud Shakeel	Pakistan	(1997-09-05) 5 September 1997 (age 27)	Gold	Left-handed	Left-arm orthodox	2023	Captain
999	Khawaja Nafay	Pakistan	(2002-02-13) 13 February 2002 (age 23)	Silver	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	2024
16	Finn Allen	New Zealand	(1999-04-22) 22 April 1999 (age 26)	Platinum	Right-handed	Right-arm Off break	2025	Overseas
All-rounders
18	Shoaib Malik	Pakistan	(1982-02-01) 1 February 1982 (age 43)	Supplementary	Right-handed	Right-arm Off break	2025
74	Mohammad Wasim	Pakistan	(2001-08-25) 25 August 2001 (age 23)	Gold	Right-handed	Right-arm medium-fast	2024
77	Sean Abbott	Australia	(1992-02-29) 29 February 1992 (age 33)	Supplementary	Right-handed	Right-arm Medium-fast	2025	Overseas
97	Faheem Ashraf	Pakistan	(1993-01-16) 16 January 1993 (age 32)	Silver	Left-handed	Right-arm Medium-fast	2025
Wicket-keepers
13	Kusal Mendis	Sri Lanka	(1995-02-02) 2 February 1995 (age 30)	Supplementary	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	2025	Overseas
53	Haseebullah Khan	Pakistan	(2003-04-04) 4 April 2003 (age 22)	Silver	Left-handed	N/A	2025
Bowlers
5	Mohammad Amir	Pakistan	(1992-04-13) 13 April 1992 (age 33)	Diamond	Left-handed	Left-arm fast-medium	2024
21	Akeal Hosein	West Indies	(1993-04-25) 25 April 1993 (age 32)	Gold	Left-handed	Left-arm orthodox	2024	Overseas
12	Kyle Jamieson	New Zealand	(1994-12-30) 30 December 1994 (age 30)	Silver	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	2025	Overseas
7	Usman Tariq	Pakistan	(1995-06-07) 7 June 1995 (age 30)	Silver	Right-handed	Right-arm off break	2024
40	Abrar Ahmed	Pakistan	(1998-10-16) 16 October 1998 (age 26)	Diamond	Right-handed	Right-arm leg break	2024
94	Mohammad Zeeshan	Pakistan	(2003-06-20) 20 June 2003 (age 22)	Emerging	Right-handed	Right-arm fast	2025

• Source: Cricinfo

Team Management

Nadeem Omar is the owner of the Quetta Gladiators. Here is a list of the main management and coaching staff:

Name	Position
Moin Khan	Director
Sarfaraz Ahmed	Head coach
Krishmar Santokie	Bowling coach
Viv Richards	Mentor

Team Captains

Here are the players who have led the Quetta Gladiators as captain:

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Last updated: 15 March 2024

Season Results

Overall Performance in PSL

• Tie+W and Tie+L means matches that were tied and then won or lost in a tiebreaker (like a "Super Over").
• The success rate percentage does not count matches with no result. Tied matches are counted as half a win.

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Last updated: 15 March 2024

Head-to-Head Records

This table shows how Quetta Gladiators have performed against other teams in the PSL:

Source: ESPNcricinfo, Last updated: 15 March 2024

Player Statistics

Most Runs Scored

• Source: ESPNcricinfo

Most Wickets Taken

• Source: ESPNcricinfo