Being 'mentally free' brought out Shadab's best in Falcons' CPL triumph
Sufyan Moqim dedicated his Player-of-the-Match award to Curtly Ambrose • CPL T20
There was a lot of Pakistani presence in the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons squad that won the CPL 2026 title - their first in just their third season - and two of them played huge roles in the triumph: Player-of-the-tournament Shadab Khan and Sufyan Moqim, who picked up four-wicket hauls in the last two games, Qualifier 1 and the final.
For Moqim, still in his early days in top-flight cricket, the match award for the final was the best way he could think of to wish "the legend" Curtly Ambrose, coach and mentor of the side, the night before his 63rd birthday.
"My first Player of the Match [in the CPL], so I am happy. But the biggest thing was that today is the legend's birthday, and I am happy that I could make it memorable. This award is dedicated to him," Moqim, whose 4 for 14 thwarted Jamaica Kingsmen to set up Falcons' win, said on the broadcast after the game.
"The plan was to control the line and length. There was a lot of dew, so it wasn't easy, but I managed to land the ball where I wanted to. I used a lot of variations, and that brought me success."
For Shadab, who is in the middle of a comeback of sorts to international cricket, the overall performance in the tournament was most opportune: he picked up 11 wickets in seven innings with an economy rate of 4.89, and chipped in with 132 runs from six outings, scoring at a strike rate of 227.58.
"When you're playing as the allrounder, you try to give it everything on the field, either as a bowler or as a batter," Shadab said. "Wherever I bowl, you need to take wickets. So I think the bowling [went well], because I was struggling for the last couple of years, so I needed that type of performance. And hopefully from here I get a proper rhythm and confidence.
"I think I was a mentally free because of the [batting] role given me: I have to fulfil that role because most of the time I have to play the death overs. I made up my mind that way as well. And when you are mentally free… you will get failure as well, you accept the failure; but when you're free, that type of mindset, most of the time you succeed."
Part of the reason it was Moqim's first Player-of-the-Match award and not his second was that Shadab won the award in Qualifier 1, Moqim's 4 for 13 better returns than Shadab's 4 for 16, marginally, but Shadab's four wickets including a hat-trick, of Shimron Hetmyer, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Quentin Sampson.
"That type of a milestone you need in your career and to get it [in the] qualifiers, so on a bigger occasion, [is great]," Shadab said. "I'm very happy because, again, as a bowler when you're doing these type of stuff, most of the time your team will win. So most importantly, if your team is winning and you're doing well for the team and you contribute for the team, I am more than happy."
Pakistan's next T20I assignment, after the ongoing Asian Games in Japan, is in Sri Lanka in October, and if Shadab and Moqim get in the touring party, they could both be points of difference if they can keep up the form they showed in the CPL.
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