From tape-ball cricket in Kashmir to PSL glory: Sufyan's inspiring story

Casual observers may have been surprised by Sufyan Moqim’s emotional post-match interview after he was named the Player of the Tournament and the Best Bowler of the Tournament in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

But his every word resonated with those who have followed him from the start of his journey in Kashmir to the big stage.

Deprived of a regular place in the Pakistan team, Sufyan kept his head down and let his bowling skills do the talking in the PSL.

And the irony was not lost on keen observers that a neglected left-arm spinner’s guile and class formed the backbone of Peshawar Zalmi’s triumphant campaign.  

Having reached the title decider with 21 wickets in the bag, Sufyan (4-0-23-1) was superb once again in the final against Hyderabad Kingsmen at Lahore on Sunday night.

But it was Australian all-rounder Aaron Hardie who produced a headline-grabbing performance in the final with a four-wicket haul and a sparkling half-century (56 not out off 39 balls).

A successful tournament, however, is not defined by just one night of brilliance.

It’s the relentless consistency throughout a campaign that separates champions from the rest.

This is where Sufyan, 26, truly left his mark as his 22 wickets in the tournament proved as decisive as the big runs from skipper Babar (588) and Kusal Mendis (550).

It’s no mean feat for a bowler to grab the Player of the Tournament in the T20 format built to favour the batsmen, especially for someone who is still struggling to seal a regular berth in the Pakistan team.

Tape ball cricket

Hailing from Baithak Baloch, a small town in Pakistan’s Kashmir famous for drawing hordes of tourists every winter, Sufyan was unable to take big strides due to limited opportunities for cricket in the region.

His biggest exposure to the game in his home town was tape ball cricket in which he excelled as a fast bowler.

It wasn’t until he decided to leave his family home in the scenic valleys of Kashmir for Rawalpindi that he discovered his talent as a spinner.

With a single-minded focus, Sufyan kept climbing the ladder, making his first class debut and playing a big role in Pakistan A’s triumph in the 2023 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup.

He took three wickets in the final against India A, including the big scalp of Abhishek Sharma.

Less than three months later, he made his senior Pakistan debut in T20 Internationals.

But despite making impressive progress (27 wickets from 19 matches at 14.75, which includes a stunning five-wicket haul  — 5/3 — against Zimbabwe), Sufyan hasn’t earned a regular berth in the team.

Since his debut on October 3, 2023, Pakistan have played 76 T20 internationals, with Sufyan featuring in only 19 of them.

It was against this backdrop of uncertainty that Sufyan started his 2026 PSL campaign for Peshawar, where the team management backed him to the hilt.

And the result is now a glorious triumph for both the team and the bowler, whose refusal to give up on his dreams has stirred the soul of every cricket fan in Pakistan.

No wonder Sufyan was battling tears at the presentation ceremony in Lahore on Sunday night.

“I believe that everything was written in my destiny by Allah. I chose to stay quiet, keep my head down, and put in the work. He has rewarded those efforts with both the best bowler award and the Player of the Tournament title,” he said.

The KRL connection

Remarkably, the talented spinner dedicated his PSL best player trophy to the late Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, Pakistan’s iconic nuclear scientist.

“His tribute to Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan was very emotional because he played and trained at the KRL (Khan Research Laboratories) ground after moving to Rawalpindi. His father still works at KRL, which gave him the opportunity to train there,” Aurangzeb Younis, a UAE-based Pakistani journalist, told the Khaleej Times.  

Younis, who also hails from Kashmir, gets goosebumps from the incredible turnaround in Sufyan’s life.

“Look, this is a boy who has never given up in his life. He comes from an area where there is no ecosystem for professional cricket,” Younis said.

“He played as a fast bowler in tape ball cricket. Then somebody asked him to leave Kashmir and join an academy in Rawalpindi. It was in that academy that the coaches asked him to try spin bowling.”

Then, in a dramatic turn of events, Sufyan’s talent grabbed eyeballs.

“During an academy match in Rawalpindi, he got a chance to bowl to Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan,” Younis recalled.

“He deceived Shadab with his first two balls, before clean bowling him with the third ball. Shadab was stunned, but while walking back to the pavilion, he told Sufyan, ‘I will give you a chance in my team’.

“So Shadab backed him a lot when Sufyan was trying to find his feet in domestic cricket.”

Now his PSL heroics may force the Pakistan team management to change their strategy of preferring Mohammad Nawaz over Sufyan.

“Both are very good left-arm spinners, but Nawaz is also a very useful batsman. The Pakistan team management has backed Nawaz’s all-round skills,” veteran Pakistani journalist Shahid Hashmi told Khaleej Times.

“Nawaz has been one of Pakistan’s best bowlers in 2025, so Sufyan unfortunately missed out on the T20 World Cup. But now that he is the top wicket taker in the PSL, maybe we can expect him to feature prominently in the Pakistan team.”

But what we can definitely expect to see from Sufyan is his desire to keep taking wickets to help his team.

“It is one thing to play well, but to do so in a way that leads the team (Peshawar) to a title is what every player dreams of,” he said.

“Throughout this tournament, my success was built on discipline. I’ve focused heavily on keeping my form steady, and that hard work has really paid off.”

His perseverance paid off at a packed Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore as Peshawar ended the fairytale run of debutants Hyderabad in the PSL.

Now it will be a true fairytale if Sufyan, the tape-ball fast bowler-turned-spinner, builds on the PSL momentum to become an international star.