Coach Tauseef confident Sindh have what it takes

Pakistan Cup 2016

KARACHI: Sindh cricket team coach Tauseef Ahmed said that he has a balanced side and hopes that it would live upto the expectations in the Pakistan Cup 2016, which begins at Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad on Tuesday (tomorrow).

“I think we have a balanced side,” Tauseef told ‘The News’ here on Sunday.

“As openers, we have Khalid Latif, Sami Aslam and Khurram Manzoor. Then we have Sohaib Maqsood, Fawad Alam, Saad Ali and Mohammad Waqas in the middle order,” he said.

“In bowling, we have the likes of Mohammad Amir, Sohail Khan, Rumman Raees and all-rounder Anwar Ali. Bilal Asif and Imad Wasim are also utility players,” he said.

Left-handed batsman Hasan Khan and all-rounder Hasan Mohsin are the two Under-19 players who will also be part of the brigade. As per rules of the event every team will have to field one Under-19 player in each game.

“There will be a selection problem as we will have to pick one Under-19 player in the side. But both of our young players are good and we will try to give them a chance turn by turn,” said Tauseef, also a former Test off-spinner.

Sindh, which would be led by Pakistan’s Test stumper Sarfraz Ahmed, have been practicing here at the National Stadium for the last two days. The 16-member team, which also features Pakistan’s hard-hitting batsman Sohaib Maqsood, will depart for Faisalabad on April 20. They will begin their title quest with the game against Balochistan on April 21.

Test pacer Mohammad Amir and Anwar Ali have not joined the camp. They will directly join the team in Faisalabad.

“Amir had a problem in his thigh muscle. He has been getting treatment and also doing training at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore. He will join us in Faisalabad and I hope he will be part of the Sindh team for the first game,” the coach informed.

Anwar, on the other hand, could not join the camp because of a marriage in his family.

Sindh have a good pace battery in the shape of Amir, Sohail and Rumman but it all depends on what kind of pitches the organisers would prepare for the day-night 50-overs a side competitions.

“We will plan after we see the nature of pitches,” Tauseef added.

It will be a test for all the players who would be fighting to regain their seats in the Pakistan squad for the forthcoming England series during which the Green-shirts would play four Tests, five One-day Internationals and one T20I in England from July to the end of September.

“Definitely some major players who are out of Pakistan team would try their best to impress the selectors ahead of England tour. It would make the event more competitive,” Tauseef said.

Azhar Ali will lead Balochistan, Sohaib Malik will serve as Punjab’s captain, Younis Khan will lead Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while Misbah-ul-Haq will be the skipper of Islamabad in the 13-day event which will end on May 1.

Two leading sides at the end of the league round will clash in the final. One match would be held daily with the game starting at 3pm.

Formerly known as Pentangular Cup, the teams of Pakistan Cup were picked through a draft system like the professional leagues.

Sindh squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Sohaib Maqsood, Sami Aslam, Mohammad Waqas, Mohammad Amir, Khalid Latif, Anwar Ali, Saad Ali, Sohail Khan, Khurram Manzoor, Bilal Asif, Hasan Khan (Under-19), Imad Wasim, Fawad Alam, Rumman Raees, Hasan Mohsin (Under-19).