After the successful culmination of the Champions Cup in the ODI format, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is now making efforts for the T20 edition. It will begin from 7th December and Rawalpindi is set to host this tournament. The final will be played on 25th December.
In the ODI edition, the stars like Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan played for their respective sides with Shaheen and Rizwan leading the sides too. However, it won’t be possible for the T20 leg as the players will be busy with international duties.
Currently participating in the ODI and T20 series against Zimbabwe, the side will next travel to South Africa to play a Test series.
Speaking about the ongoing ODI series against Zimbabwe, Pakistan suffered a humiliating defeat against the home side in the 1st ODI of the series. In the rain-curtailed match, Zimbabwe won the game by 40 runs through DLS method.
After putting to bat first, Zimbabwe ended up scoring 205 runs in 40.2 overs. Sikandar Raza and Richard Ngarava were top performers for the side contributing aptly with bat and bowl.
It was yet another awful batting performance by the Pakistan side as they were reduced to 60 for six before rain hit the game. Mohammad Rizwan and Aamir Jamal were on the crease with the score of 19* and 0* before their name, respectively.
The second ODI of the ongoing series will be played on 26th November and the third ODI is due on 28th. After completion of the ODI series, the Green Shirts will participate in a T20 series before flying to South Africa to play T20, ODI, and Test series.
Thus, because of a packed international schedule the board has decided to rest the main players for the T20 Champions Cup.
As of now, the provisional squads along with the mentors have been announced for the T20 Champions Cup and excluded all the players in central contract and the one participating in the ongoing Zimbabwe series.
The final squads will announce when the selection committee will finalise the squad for the South Africa tour. It will allow mentors to revamp their squad, respectively.
This decision aligns with Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) commitment to prioritising international cricket commitments over domestic competitions.
Provisional Squads:
ABL Stallions (mentor Shoaib Malik): Abdul Faseeh, Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Azam Khan, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Amir Khan, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Mohsin, Maaz Sadaqat, Mehran Mumtaz, Nasir Nawaz, Shoaib Malik, Tahir Hussain, Ubaid Shah, Yasir Khan and Zaman Khan
Engro Dolphins (mentor Sarfaraz Ahmed): Asif Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Ihsanullah, Khubaib Khalil, Kashif Ali, Mirza Tahir Baig, Muhammad Akhlaq, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Salman Afridi, Salman Irshad, Shayan Sheikh and Umar Amin
Lake City Panthers (mentor Saqlain Mushtaq): Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Ali Raza, Amad Butt, Danish Aziz, Haider Ali, Hasan Ali, Irfanullah Shah, Mohammad Umar, Mohammad Zeeshan, Mubasir Khan, Rehan Afridi, Rizwan Mehmood, Saad Baig, Sharjeel Khan, Umar Siddiq and Usama Mir
Nurpur Lions (mentor Waqar Younis): Aamer Yamin, Arif Yaqoob, Hasan Nawaz, Hunain Shah, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Basit, Mohammad Faiq, Mohammad Junaid, Mohammad Siraj, Mohammad Taha, Musa Khan, Rohail Nazir, Sajjad Ali Hashmi and Shahab Khan
UMT Markhors (mentor Misbah-ul-Haq): Abdul Samad, Akif Javed, Ali Shafique, Ali Shan, Ali Usman, Bilawal Bhatti, Bismillah Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay, Mohammad Faizan, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rameez Jnr, Mohammad Sarwar Afridi, Muhammad Imran Randhawa, Muhammad Shehzad, Niaz Khan, Nisar Ahmed, Saad Masood and Zahid Mehmood
