Picture Credit: PCB/PSL
The recently-concluded PSL 2021 produced a spectacle of cricket for fans across the globe amid the ongoing pandemic. After a grueling season which was eventually completed in UAE, Multan Sultans emerged as the ultimate champions. After winning only 1 game in first 5 matches, Mohammad Rizwan's side absolutely turned the season around in second half leg of the tournament to win their maiden PSL title. While the heroic performances of players like Imran Tahir, Shahnawaz Dhani and Sohaib Maqsood caught everyone's attention, there was another aspect of the team which was quite talked about during the tournament.
They were secret codes for captain: Mahmood
During some matches of PSL 6, Multan Sultans used to display some numbers besides the boundary ropes. This led to a lot of speculation among the fans and cricket experts as they failed to understand the reason behind the same. However, Sultans' bowling coach Azhar Mahmood has now broken the silence as he revealed that they were secret codes to help out the captain in terms of bowling choices.
In an interview with Pak Passion, Azhar said, “The number codes we used in PSL were secret signals for the captain and bowlers as to what they can do on the field. Of course, this is not telling the captain what to do but instead it’s advice for the skipper based upon our analysis using technology to say which bowler is the best match for which batsman and so on.”
While the former Pakistan all-rounder clarified that it was just an additional help for Mohammad Rizwan, it was quite evident that the understanding between the players, management and the captain worked out pretty well as Sultans went on to beat Peshawar Zalmi in the final to lift the coveted trophy.