By Zainab Shafiq 
Lahore Qalandars’ COO Sameen Rana has dropped bombshell revelations about player-poaching in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), accusing rival franchises of making under-the-table offers to break the Qalandars’ core.
During a candid interview, the host asked,
“In other teams, we’ve seen core players move from one franchise to another. But Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi, Abdullah Shafique—these are the kind of players I believe won’t leave. Even if someone offers Haris Rauf anything, he won’t leave Qalandars. Same goes for Shaheen and Fakhar. We’ve never even heard any rumors about these players contacting or being contacted by other franchises.”
Sameen Rana responded with serious allegations and called out an emerging “toxic culture” in the league.
“We’ve seen this culture emerging where franchises try to poach players from other teams, which is why we released a song last year with the message ‘Sochna Bhi Mana Hai’—even thinking about breaking Qalandars is off-limits,” he said.
“My stance is simple: if a player is available in the draft, by all means, pick him. But at least don’t try to break our core from within.”
Teams Approached Rashid Khan’s Family
He further revealed that during the last World Cup, Rashid Khan received contact through unofficial channels:
“One of the franchises went as far as to contact his family. Rashid immediately called me and said, ‘They’re approaching even my family, but I’ve told them I have a three-year contract with Qalandars.’”
Rana didn’t stop there. He named more cases of attempted tampering.
“Franchises also approached David Wiese and tried to lure him with a Platinum category offer. I know of at least three franchises that tried to bribe Shaheen Afridi with a blank cheque and a guaranteed three-year captaincy offer.”
Defending his team’s journey, Rana concluded:
“We’ve worked hard for years, investing time, money, and effort into discovering and grooming local talent. We didn’t take shortcuts. You can’t just steal what we’ve built after years of struggle.”
Sameen Rana Big Revelation About How Franchises Tried to Break Lahore Qalandars
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