Day: October 5, 2021

Lahore, October 05, 2021 (PPI-OT): Tension, excitement and thrill reaches its climax as the six Cricket Associations boasting country’s best T20 players lock horns in a dash to the semi-finals of the National T20 in the Lahore-leg matches, which begins on Wednesday and will be televised live on PTV Sports and live-streamed on the PCB YouTube Channel and Facebook page.

 

After 18 matches of the tournament, which commenced in Rawalpindi on 23 September and carries a total prize of over PKR9million, all the sides have played six matches each.

 

Sarfaraz Ahmed-led Sindh, Mohammad Rizwan-captained Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Babar Azam-led Central Punjab and Shadab Khan-captained Northern are locked at eight points apiece with four wins and two defeats. Imam-ul-Haq’s Balochistan have four points, while Aamer Yamin-led Southern Punjab are winless but still in with a chance to reach the knockout stage provided they win their last four matches convincingly and other results also go in their favour.

 

Action will begin on Wednesday afternoon at 1500 Pakistan time when Sindh and Central Punjab will go toe to toe. At 1930, Northern will square off against Balochistan.

 

The winner of Sindh-Central Punjab match will move to 10 points and put one step in the semi-finals, while Northern will prefer to follow in the footsteps of the earlier match’s winner though they are expected to face stiff resistance from Balochistan who will be keen to move to six points and remain close to the frontrunners.

 

Unsurprisingly, world’s No.2 ranked T20I batsman Babar Azam is the leading run-scorer after six matches. The Pakistan captain has scored 286 runs at an average of 71.5 with a strike-rate of 143. He is followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Sahibzada Farhan (220 runs, 36.66 avg., 133.33 strike-rate), Sharjeel Khan of Sindh (212, 35.33 avg., 148.25 strike-rate), Northern’s Haider Ali (208, 52 avg., 141.49 strike-rate), Mohammad Rizwan of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (193, 32.16 avg., 129.53 strike-rate) and Abdul Wahid Banglazai of Balochistan (184, 36.8 avg., 111.51 strike-rate).

 

Pakistan’s premier fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi leads the bowling chart with 12 wickets with an economy-rate of 8.58. Six bowlers are tied at nine wickets apiece, namely Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali (both Central Punjab), Asif Afridi, Imran Khan (both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Shahnawaz Dahani (Sindh) and Haris Rauf (Northern), while Sindh’s Ruman Raees is the only bowler with eight wickets.

 

The six captains are excited and keenly looking forward to the remaining 12 round matches of the Lahore-leg, which will be followed by semi-finals on 12 October and the final on 13 October.

 

Aamer Yamin: “After the disappointment of the Rawalpindi-leg we enter the Lahore-leg knowing that we have nothing to lose anymore. At the same time, we remember well how we turned it all around last year after an equally poor start.”

 

Babar Azam: “This National T20 has been one of the most exciting T20 competitions I have ever been part of and I have no doubts that the quality and competitiveness of the tournament will get even better when we move to Lahore with all sides vying for semi-final berths.

 

“Central Punjab have not been able to make their fans happy in the last two editions, but we are eager to lift the trophy at our home ground this time.”

 

Mohammad Rizwan: “We have one simple game plan, which is to play cricket according to contemporary standards. It worked for us in the last season and playing attacking, positive and modern-day cricket will help us in retaining our title and entertaining the fans in Lahore.

 

“We have achieved some good results in Rawalpindi, but the job is half done and our team understands that. We need to remain focused in Lahore, because all teams will be using the change of venue as an opportunity to regather and fill in the loopholes.”

 

Imam-ul-Haq: “We may not have achieved the desired results in Rawalpindi, but we are optimistic about our chances in Lahore. Over the last few days, we have identified gaps in our game plan and we will be looking to fill them when we take the field on Wednesday.”

 

Sarfaraz Ahmed: “The Rawalpindi-leg brought us good results and have put us in a good position for a place in the semi-finals. We cannot afford to be complacent as we still have a long way to go.

 

“The pitches in Lahore should provide more scoring opportunities to the batters and need to ensure that we make full use of the conditions. While our top-order has been delivering for us as Sharjeel and Khurram are both contributing, we need a bit more from our middle and lower order.”

 

Shadab Khan: “The Rawalpindi-leg was hard fought as all six teams produced some good cricket. We have gathered eight points and are eyeing a semi-final spot now. We play fearless brand of cricket and it has worked well for us not only this year but in the last two editions too.”

 

Points table:

 

Team – Matches – Won – Lost – Points – NNR

 

Sindh – 6 – 4 – 2 – 8 – 0.647

 

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – 6 – 4 – 2 – 8 – 0.530

 

Central Punjab – 6 – 4 – 2 – 8 – 0.458

 

Northern – 6 – 4 – 2 – 8 – 0.361

 

Balochistan – 6 – 2 – 4 – 4 – -1.147

 

Southern Punjab – 6 – 0 – 6 – 0 – -0.695

 

Upcoming matches at the Gaddafi Stadium:

 

6 Oct – Central Punjab-Sindh; Balochistan-Northern

 

7 Oct – Central Punjab-Southern Punjab; Balochistan-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

 

8 Oct – Central Punjab-Northern; Southern Punjab-Sindh

 

9 Oct – Sindh-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Northern-Southern Punjab

 

10 Oct – Southern Punjab-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Balochistan-Central Punjab

 

11 Oct – Sindh-Balochistan; Northern-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

 

12 Oct – No.1 vs No.4 Team; No.2 Team vs No.3 Team

 

13 Oct – Final

 

For more information, contact:

Media Manager,

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)

Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore 54600, Pakistan

Tel: +92-42-5717231-4

Fax: +92-42-5711860

Website: www.pcb.com.pk

Lahore, October 05, 2021 (PPI-OT): Twelve sides of six Cricket Associations will participate in the three-day National U19 Championship and one-day National U19 Cup, which will be held across six venues of Punjab from 10 October to 19 November. The three-day games will be followed by one-day fixtures, with a day’s gap between the two matches.

 

Six Whites squads have been placed in Pool A and will play their matches in Gujranwala, Muridke and Sialkot, while the remaining six Blues squads are in Pool B with their matches scheduled at Rawalpindi and Islamabad’s Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Academy, National Ground and Shalimar Cricket Ground.

 

The Pakistan Cricket Board, this season, has allowed each Cricket Association to field two sides. This has been done to allow talented youngsters the opportunity to stake claims in Pakistan squad for next year’s ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2022, besides increasing the pool of players at the grassroots level with the very best talent to be identified, nurtured and trained at the National High Performance Centre.

 

Meanwhile, following merit-based trials, the 12 squads for the two tournaments have been confirmed. Performance of players in the City Cricket Association two-day and 50-over tournaments were also taken into consideration.

 

The squads also include 32 players who attended an eight-week High Performance Camp at Karachi’s Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre under the supervision of head coach Ijaz Ahmed.

 

The camp not only provided extensive practice, training and scenario-based match practice to the probables, it also furnished valuable exposure in a High Performance camp environment.

 

Squads:

 

Balochistan Whites U19: Abu Huraira (Lasbela U19), Aman Khan (Killa Abdullah U19), Arbaz Khan (Lasbela U19), Duniya Khan (Loralai U19), Haseebullah (Pishin U19), Hikmatullah (Loralai U19), Jan Muhammad ( Killa Abdullah U19), M Muddasir (Noshki U19), Muhammad Arif (Pishin U19), Muhammad Nasir (Naseerabad U19), Muhammad Uzair (Naseerabad U19), Qudrat Ullah (Quetta U19), Qurban Ali (Pishin U19), Rizwan Ahmed (Khuzdar U19), Waheed ul Rehman (Khuzdar U19), Yahya Khan (Quetta U19)

 

Reserve Players: Israrullah (Naseerabad U19), Jahangir Khan (Loralai U19,), Seeed Ahmed (Khuzdar U19), Siraj Mehboob (Panjgur U19)

 

Coaching staff: Aslam Sheikh (head coach), Mazhar Deenari (assistant coach)

 

Balochistan Blues U19: Abu Bakar (Lasbela U19), Ali Asghar (Noshki U19), Aurangzeb (Balochistan U19), Basit Ali ( Balochistan U19), Junaid Ahmed (Quetta U19), Kabir Raj (Quetta U19), Muhammad Waheed (Quetta U19), Muhammad Umar (Pishin U19), Obaid Khan (Quetta U19), Sajjad Ali (Loralai U19), Shahid Khan (Quetta U19), Shamraiz Khan (Pishin U19), Wajid Ali (Naseerabad U19), Yasir Khan (Quetta U19), Zaheer Ahmed (Lasbela U19), Zulqarnain (Noshki U19)

 

Reserve Players: Arshad Ali (Naseerabad U19), Mohammad Hussain (Noshki U19), Mohammad Ismail (Loralai U19), Yasir Hussain (Naseerabad U19)

 

Coaching staff: Hussain Khosa (head coach), Aqil Baloch (assistant coach)

 

Central Punjab Whites U19: Afzal Manzoor (Sheikhupura), Ahmed Hasan (Sheikhupura), Ali Razak (Lahore West Zone W), Ali Zoraiz Asif (Lahore North Zone B), Ameer Hamza (Gujranwala), Azan Awais (Sialkot), Hunain Shah (Lahore West Zone W), M. Awais (Faisalabad), M. Hassan Hameed (Lahore West Zone B), M. Ibtisam (Sargodha), Muneeb Wasif (Central Punjab U19s), Samama Riaz (Faisalabad), Shoaib Zahid (Jhang), Taha Mehmood (Gujranwala), Usman Nadeem (Lahore East Zone B), Zeeshan Sikander (Mandi Bahauddin)

 

Reserve Players: Asad Raza (Gujranwala), Daniyal Yousuf (Lahore East Zone W), Hasan Ali (Faisalabad), Malik Abdul Rafay (Sargodha), Saria Khan (Mianwali)

 

Coaching staff: Humayoun Farhat (head coach), Khurram Shehzad (assistant coach)

 

Central Punjab Blues U19: Abrar Afzal (Lahore West Zone B), Abu Bakar (Gujranwala), Ali Asfand (Faisalabad), Ali Hassan (Sargodha), Arham Nawab (Faisalabad), Awais Ali (Gujranwala), Hasnat Abbas (Lahore West Zone W), Khurram Riaz (Lahore North Zone W), M. Ali Hassan (Gujranwala), M. Zeeshan (Faisalabad), Mohammad Waqas (Faisalabad), Saad Waseem (Faisalabad), Sameer Saqib (Faisalabad), Shahwaiz Irfan (Lahore West Zone W), Usama Zahid (Lahore West Zone W), Zain Ul Abdin (Gujranwala)

 

Reserve Players: Umer Eman (Lahore West Zone B), Abdul Rehman (Faisalabad), M. Muzamil (Lahore West Zone W), S. Hassan Gillani (Sialkot), Saeed Ali (Sialkot)

 

Coaching staff: Muhammad Ashraf (head coach), Ashraf Ali (assistant coach)

 

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whites U19: Abbas Ali (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U19), Abbas Dawar (Charsada U19), Abdullah Zareen (Charsada U19), Afaq Khan (Mardan U19), Ayaz Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U19), Daniyal Bhatti (Haripur U19), Imad Afzal (Mardan U19), Ismail Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U16), Khalid Shah (Peshawar U19), M. Farooq (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U19), Muhammad Irfan (Peshawar U19), Muhammad Umer (Swabi U19), Rahimullah (Nowshera U19), Sahal Yousaf (Kohat U19), Sherdil Khan (Swat U19), Zubair Shinwari (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U19)

 

Reserve Players: Afsar Ahmad (Buneer U19), Haneef ur Rehman (Swat U19), Muhammad Hasnain (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U19), Shoaib Khan (Abbottabad U19)

 

Coaching staff: Saqib Faqir (head coach), Muhammad Sadiq (assistant coach)

 

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Blues U19: Abubakar Khan (Dir Lower U19), Ahmed Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U19), Ayaz Shah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U19), Ayub Khan (D.I Khan U19), Ch Shujah (Abbottabad U19), Haseeb Khan (Peshawar U19), Maaz Sadaqat (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U19), Muhammad Salman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U19), Muhammad Yasin (Mardan U19), Muhammad Zulkifal (Charsada U19), Najab Khan (Charsada U19), Naqeeb Ullah (D.I Khan U19), Rooh Ullah (Mohmand U19), Sallahudin (Bannu U19), Umair Khan (Charsada U19), Zeeshan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U19)

 

Reserve Players: Arafat Khan (Peshawar U19), Azmatullah (Dir Upper U19), Muhammad Yasin (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U19), Shahid Khan (Bannu U19)

 

Coaching Staff: Sajid Shah (head coach), Shoaib Khan (assistant coach)

 

Northern Whites U19: Abdul Basit (Rawalpindi U19), Abdul Jabbar Gillani (Islamabad U19), Ali Hasnain Sabir (Rawalpindi U19), Arsalan Sajjad (Muzzafarabad U19), Faizan Saleem (Mirpur U19), Jabbir Tayyab Khan (Islamabad U19), Jahandad Khan (Rawalpindi U19), Kamran Riaz (Islamabad U19), M. Ali Taj (Islamabad U19), Shan Khan (Mirpur U19), Sudais Ulfat (Islamabad U19), Suleman Asif (Rawalpindi U19), Syed Ali Zain Rizvi (Islamabad U19), Syed Hashim Mir Ali (Kotli U19), Usman Khan ( Paa U19), Waqas Zakir (Muzzafarabad U19)

 

Reserve Players: Hammadullah (Attock U19), Ibraheem Bhatti (Rawalpindi U19), M.Bilal Muqaddar (Kotli U19), Muhammad Ismail (Jhelum U19)

 

Coaching staff: Hafiz Majid Jahangir (head coach), Fahad Akram (assistant coach)

 

Northern Blues U19: Aamir Hussain (Rawalpindi U19), Abid Ullah (Islamabad U19), Affan Ishaq (Rawalpindi U19), Aseer Mughal (Rawalpindi U19), Fahad Rashid Kiani (Muzzafarabad U19), Faraz Khan (Attock U19), Hamza Jahangir (Chakwal U19), Haseeb Imran (Jhelum U19), Hussain (Rawalpindi U19), M. Faizan Ghani (Attock U19), M. Umar Habib (Attock U19), Mehran Mumtaz (Rawalpindi U19), Muhammad Aftab (Islamabad U19), Muhammad Awais (Attock U19), Shamyl Hussain (Islamabad U19), Zain Ali Sajid (Mirpur U19)

 

Reserve Players: Asad Raza (Mirpur U19), Hassan Ghalib (Jhelum U19), M. Sami Mir (Muzzafarabad U19), Shoukat Khan (Islamabad U19)

 

Coaching staff: Kamran Khan (head coach), Jawad Hameed Haq (assistant coach)

 

Sindh Whites U19: Adeel Meo (Sindh U19), Adil Ahmed Khan (Karachi Zone 1 U19), Afnan Khan (Karachi Zone 4 U19), Ali Shan (Shaheed Benazirabad U19), Ghazi Ghouri (Sindh U19), Habibullah (Karachi Zone 6 U19), Kashif Ali (Karachi Zone 6 U19), Malik Zain-Ul Abedin (Karachi Zone 1 U19), Mansoor Ali Khoso (Khairpur U19), Muhammad Fahad Amin (Karachi Zone 3 U19), Muhammad Sikander (Hyderabad U19), Najaf Ali (Shikharpur U19), Rehman (Hyderabad U19), Saqlain Nawaz (Khairpur U19), Wahaj Riaz (Karachi Zone 2 U19), Zeeshan Qasim (Karachi Zone 5 U19)

 

Reserve Players: Abdul Rafay (Karachi Zone 3 U19), Ali Shinwari (Karachi Zone 2 U19), Syed Haider Ali Bukhari (Sanghar U19), Syed Muhammad Shahsha (Karachi Zone 7 U19)

 

Coaching staff: Azam Khan (head coach), Hanif Malik (assistant coach)

 

Sindh Blues U19: Abdullah Fazal (Karachi Zone 4 U19), Aftab Ibrahim (Karachi Zone 7 U19), Ali Ishaq (Karachi Zone 6 U19), Aliyan Mehmood (Sindh U19), Asif Ali (Shikharpur U19), Huzaifa Munir (Karachi Zone 7 U19), Kh. Muhammad Hafeez (Karachi Zone 6 U19), Maaz Khurram Amin (Karachi Zone 6 U19), Muhammad Abdullah (Jamshoro U19), Muhammad Sheryar (Karachi Zone 2 U19), Muhammad Umer (Khairpur U19), Nawaz Shareef Yousufzai (Karachi Zone 6 U19), Rizwan Mehmood (Sindh U19), Sarfaraz Ali (Khairpur U19), Taimur Mustafa (Karachi Zone 2 U19), Talha Ahsan (Sindh U19)

 

Reserve Players: Muhammad Meesam (Hyderabad U19), Muhammad Mansab (Sukkur U19), Syed Ariyan (Karachi Zone 2 U19), Ziaullah (Karachi Zone 2 U19)

 

Coaching staff: Tahir Mehmood (head coach), Syed Mauhtashim Ali (assistant coach)

 

Southern Punjab Whites U19: Ali Haider (Vehari), Arfat Ahmad Minhas (Multan), Aun Shehzad (Muzafargarah), Faisal Akram (Multan), Harib Moeen (Bahawalpur), Hasnain Majid (Rahim Yar Khan), M Ammar (Rahim Yar Khan), M Aqib Asghar (Vehari), M Awais Abbas (Muzafargarah), M Ismail (Sahiwal), M Shehzad (D G Khan), M Uzair Mumtaz (Multan), Meesam Raza (Multan), Nauman Abbas (Muzafargarah), Usama Aqeel (Okara), Zain Islam (Multan)

 

Reserve Players: Ali Arshad (Bahwalnagar), Haider Baloch (D G Khan), M Nabeel Arshad (Pak Pattan), Syed Labaik Mehdi (Muzafargarah)

 

Coaching staff: Bilal Ahmed (head coach), Azhar Shafiq (assistant coach)

 

Southern Punjab Blues U19: Alam Zaib (Multan), Ali Afzal (Pak Pattan), Hamza Nawaz (Bahawalnagar), Haseeb Gul (Muzafargarah), Huzaifa Shafiq (Rajan Pur), Kashif Fareed (D G Khan), Khoubaib Ahmad (Bahawalpur), M Abu Bakar (Muzafargarah), M Ahmad (Vehari), M Danish (Muzafargarah), M Zahid (Multan), M Zubair (Multan), Moheer Saeed (Vehari), Rehan Ijaz (Rahim Yar Khan), Sharjeel Ahmad (Lodharan), Zarrar Shakeel (Okara)

 

Reserve Players: Abdullah Zain (Rahim Yar Khan), Adnan Shahid (D G Khan), M Waji (Muzafargarah), Rahat Ullah (Rahim Yar Khan)

 

Coaching staff: To be announced (head coach), Irfan Fazil (assistant coach)

 

National U19 Championship and Cup schedule:

 

Pool A

 

10-12 and 14 Oct – Balochistan (W)-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (W), Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot; Central Punjab (W)-Sindh (W), Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala; Northern (W)-Southern Punjab (W), Country Club, Muridke.

 

17-19 and 21 Oct – Balochistan (W)-Northern (W), Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot; Sindh (W)-Southern Punjab (W), Country Club, Muridke; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (W)-Central Punjab (W), Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala.

 

24-26 and 28 Oct – Balochistan (W)-Central Punjab (W), Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot; Northern (W)-Sindh (W), Country Club, Muridke; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (W)-Southern Punjab (W), Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala

 

31 Oct-2 and 4 Nov – Balochistan (W)-Southern Punjab (W), Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (W)-Sindh (W), Country Club, Muridke; Northern (W)-Central Punjab (W), Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot

 

7-9 and 11 Nov – Balochistan (W)-Sindh (W), Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot; Central Punjab (W)-Southern Punjab (W), Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala; Northern (W)-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (W), Country Club, Muridke

 

POOL B

 

10-12 and 14 Oct – Balochistan (B)-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (B), Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi; Central Punjab (B)-Sindh (B), National Ground, Islamabad; Northern (B)-Southern Punjab (B), Shalimar Cricket Ground; Islamabad

 

17-19 and 21 Oct – Balochistan (B)-Northern (B), Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi; Sindh (B)-Southern Punjab (B), National Ground, Islamabad; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (B)-Central Punjab (B), Shalimar Cricket Ground, Islamabad

 

24-26 and 28 Oct – Balochistan (B)-Central Punjab (B), Shalimar Cricket Ground, Islamabad; Northern (B)-Sindh (B), National Ground, Islamabad; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (B)-Southern Punjab (B), Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi

 

31 Oct-2 and 4 Nov – Balochistan (B)-Southern Punjab (B), National Ground, Islamabad; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (B)-Sindh (B), Shalimar Cricket Ground, Islamabad; Northern (B)-Central Punjab (B), Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi

 

7-9 and 11 Nov – Balochistan (B)-Sindh (B), National Ground, Islamabad; Central Punjab (B)-Southern Punjab (B), Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi; Northern (B)-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (B), Shalimar Cricket Ground, Islamabad

 

14 Nov – National U19 Cup final (Pool A leader v Pool B leader), venue TBC

 

16-19 Nov – National U19 Championship final (Pool A leader v Pool B leader), venue TBC

 

For more information, contact:

Media Manager,

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)

Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore 54600, Pakistan

Tel: +92-42-5717231-4

Fax: +92-42-5711860

Website: www.pcb.com.pk