FAISALABAD: With Pakistan’s three-match T20I series against Australia in early November and the player draft for the next year’s Pakistan Super League (PSL) after it, the upcoming National T20 Cup offers opportunities to many up-and-coming cricketers to leave their mark.
Like it has been the case in the four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, any performance in this year’s edition of the National T20 Cup, which runs from 13-24 October, is bound to gain attention as country’s top T20 cricketers will form squads of the six First XI cricket association sides.
The following are some players who could prove their mettle at the event.
The 28-year-old all-rounder has delivered impressive performances with both bat and ball in the first phase of the four-day Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
He scored 211 runs at an average of 70.33 with three half-centuries in four innings and his right-arm off-break made him one of the four bowlers to have picked up a five-fer in the first four matches of the first-class tournament.
While he can contribute with the ball, it is his ability to steer the innings in the middle overs which could make him a vital cog in a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s playing XI.
Adil turned out for FATA in the last edition of the National T20 Cup and scored 147 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 105.
Overall, he has 794 runs at a strike rate of 111. He has only one half-century across his 42-match T20 career, which he will be looking to change this tournament.
If he gets named in a playing XI – which he is most likely to – it would be the 16-year-old’s maiden appearance in a T20 competition.
Despite that, the opposition batsmen will be wary of the threat that the right-arm pacer poses with his searing pace.
Nasim, a product of the PCB’s U-16 development programme, has been with Central Punjab as their First XI player in the first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament and has nine wickets at an average of 26 in three matches.
Nasim, just 16, was picked by Quetta Gladiators for this year’s edition of the Pakistan Super League, but a back injury ruled him out of the tournament. He, however, made a remarkable return to competitive cricket by picking 12 scalps at 13.92 runs per dismissal for Pakistan U-19 across five matches against South Africa.
His two outings in the recent ACC U19 Asia Cup bagged him four wickets at 16.25.
3- Ahsan Ali – Sindh
Promoted to the First XI side for the National T20 Cup, the right-handed batsman established himself as a brisk-scoring top-order batsman in the last edition of the PSL.
Though the 25-year-old managed 178 runs at an average of 22.25, it was his impressive strike rate of over 130 across eight innings and his ability to cream bowlers down the ground which made Quetta Gladiators, the title winners, stick with him for most of the tournament.
Ahsan joins Sindh’s First XI after registering a century in his side’s Second XI match against Central Punjab in the most recent three-day Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament.
A mere Google search of his name produces videos with titles begging internet users to watch him send thunderbolts at daunting pace.
This right-arm fast-bowler left a lasting impression in the 2019 edition of the PSL by snatching one of the rare wins for Lahore Qalandars, and that too against their arch-rivals Karachi Kings in a high-pressure situation.
He took 11 wickets in 10 matches and continued to stamp his authority in domestic cricket by taking six wickets at an average of 35.16 in four Pakistan Cup matches in what was his first List ‘A’ tournament.
The ongoing season is Haris’ first. He has played two first-class matches for Northern and has taken six wickets across three innings.
Haris was part of the a camp for emerging players at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore in the build up to the season, and in his first domestic T20 tournament in Pakistan, he will be hoping to build on his reputation.
The 29-year-old all-rounder has two T20Is next to his name. He picked up a wicket on the very first ball he bowled in the format by trapping Jason Roy LBW in November 2015.
Yamin has been in scintillating form. His 142 and match figures of five for 57 were massive in helping Southern Punjab to their maiden first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy win earlier this week.
He has scored 291 runs at an average of 72.75 in the first-class tournament and his medium pace has brought crucial breakthroughs.
Yamin was a regular player for Karachi Kings in the last PSL. Overall, he has 51 wickets in the T20 format and bowls at an economy of a shade above eight.
His batting figures (average of 17) are what need improvement. Considering the batting form he is in, one can count on that happening this tournament.
With an average of just 19.10 in a career that spans 29 T20s, Amad Butt is the kind of fast-bowler which every captain wants in the final 10 overs of the opposition innings.
The right-arm pacer has taken 39 wickets to date and can also bat, which is underscored by five half-centuries in first-class cricket, the most recent coming in his side’s fixture against Southern Punjab.
The 24-year-old was in Islamabad United’s camp in the last PSL season but got to bowl only eight overs in two matches. In those eight overs, however, he took four wickets at an average of 16.75.
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