Shaheen Afridi Mohsin Naqvi Babar Azam in PSL. Image Credits: X
The Pakistan Super League 2026 is in all its glory as it reaches its business end, with teams fighting it out to finish within the playoff spots in only a handful of matches remaining.
Multan Sultans’ star overseas bat, Steve Smith, lit the stage on fire against Hyderabad Kingsmen, as he scored his maiden PSL century, which was interestingly neutralised by Usman Khan’s similar effort in the run chase.
Nonetheless, despite the loss, the Sultans, who are comfortably second on the points table, have sealed their playoff qualification for PSL 2026.
Just days after witnessing a swashbuckling game of cricket, the Multan Sultans owner dropped some bombshells and called out Babar Azam’s Peshawar Zalmi and Shaheen Afridi’s Lahore Qalandars, raising eyebrows around the league.
Multan Sultans owner fires shots at Babar Azam’s PSL team
With just over a week of the PSL 2026 season left, Gohar Shah, the Multan Sultans’ owner, recently appeared on The Burger Shop Podcast, where he discussed a variety of topics about the PSL 2026, how his team has been doing and the extended version of the PSL.
While doing so, Shah raised questions about favouritism in the league, where he felt Babar Azam’s Peshawar Zalmi ‘get too much of the rub of green’ and that he joked about this with his team as well. The Multan Sultans’ owner feels hard done by the favourable decisions for the Zalmis.
"I don’t like Peshawar Zalmi because I feel they get too much of the rub of the green. I even joke with my team that it’s the Peshawar Super League rather than the Pakistan Super League, because they seem to receive a lot of favourable decisions, and we don’t know why,” he said.
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“Enemy number one”: Multan Sultans owner expresses feelings for Shaheen Afridi’s Qalandars
Speaking up on the his recent tweet on the ball-tampering issue from the Lahore Qalandars players on the same podcast, Gohar Shah labelled the franchise as his enemy number one for how they reacted to his tweet on the matter.
However, he explicitly made it clear that he held no grudges against the owners and team members, including Shaheen Afridi and co.
“Lahore Qalandars are really annoying. I just don’t like how they behave, especially their fan base. I’m not pointing any fingers at the owners or the players. I tweeted that I thought the ball was getting a pedicure. Later, I’m not sure, the umpire called the player in and ruled him out for ball tampering. I had no direct link to the umpire. He’s the one who made that decision.”
“My only fault was that, as a spectator watching the game, I felt something was happening to the ball. It didn’t seem fair, so I pointed it out. But it turned into a huge issue, with people saying I’m anti-Pathan and anti-LQ. They may not be my franchise’s enemy number one, but they’re enemy number one for me,” he concluded.
Playoff race intensifies in PSL 2026
As the PSL 2026 reaches its final stages, the schedule and table both look cramped. Heading into Match 36 of 44, there are still 2 spots up for grabs and five teams still in contention to seal them.
So far, Babar Azam’s Peshawar Zalmi, with 8 wins and a no result in 9 matches, are top of the table, already qualified in the top-2 with a match to go. They are joined by Multan Sultans, who have 6 wins and 3 losses at number 2.
With the numbers 3 and 4 still open, Islamabad United with 9 points, Hyderabad Kingsmen, Shaheen Afridi’s Lahore Qalandars, Karachi Kings and Quetta Gladiators are fighting for the spots with 8 points each.
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