PCB unveils outfits for National T20 Cup

KARACHI: Pakistan’s experienced all-rounder Shoaib Malik will represent Karachi Whites, while left-arm Test pacer Mohammad Amir will lead Rawalpindi as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday announced eight regional teams for the National T20 Cup 2018-19 to be held in Multan from December 10-25.

The outfits were announced following a selection process conducted through a draft system.“The PCB held players selection ceremony for National T20 Cup at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore. Eight regional sides Lahore Blues, Lahore Whites, Karachi Whites, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Multan, FATA, and Peshawar selected 14 players each to complete their set of 18 players for the tournament,” the PCB said on Thursday.

It added that all teams had picked four players each before the start of the ceremony whereas each outfit had to include at least two emerging players in their squads. “The players’ selection ceremony was held in a cordial atmosphere where the regions were represented by the presidents and coaches. The junior and senior selection committee members assisted the regional teams to make formidable combinations for the T20 tournament,” the Board said.

Barring Pakistan’s skipper Sarfraz Ahmed, Babar Azam and Hassan Ali, the squads carry most of the other national stars currently playing in Pakistan’s side.

Discarded international all-rounder Anwar Ali will lead Karachi Whites, Sohaib Maqsood will captain Multan, Kamran Akmal will be the skipper of Lahore Whites, Hafiz Saad Nasim will lead Lahore Blues, Imad Wasim will skipper Islamabad, international stumper Mohammad Rizwan will serve as Peshawar’s captain and FATA will be led by Usman Shinwari. Lahore Blues will defend the title. They had beaten Lahore Whites by seven wickets in the final held at the Pindi Stadium Rawalpindi in November 2017.

Squads: FATA: Usman Khan Shinwari (captain), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Khushdil Shah, Asif Afridi, Sohail Akhtar, Mukhtar Ahmed, Adil Amin, Kashif Bhatti, Sameen Gul, Usama Mir, Mohammad Saad, Nasir Ahmed, Asad Afridi, Samiullah Jr (E), Bismillah Khan, Abbas Afridi (E), Rehan Afridi, Fazal-ur-Rehman; Islamabad: Imad Wasim (captain), Shan Masood, Umar Gul, Rohail Nazir, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Junaid Khan, Abid Ali, Sohail Khan, Nauman Ali, Faizan Riaz, Ali Sarfraz, Sarmad Bhatti, Ibtisam Sheikh, Arsal Sheikh (E), Shehzad Azam Rana, Ahmed Bashir, Rizwan Ali; Karachi Whites: Anwar Ali (captain), Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Sami, Khurram Manzoor, Shoaib Malik, Rameez Raja Jr, Awais Zia, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Hasan, Fawad Alam, Raza Hasan, Arshad Iqbal (E), Tabish Khan, Akbar-ur-Rehman, Rahat Ali, Ahsan Ali, Fahad Iqbal, Saim Ayub (E); Lahore Blues: Saad Nasim (captain), Aizaz Cheema, Waqas Ahmed, Hussain Talat, Nauman Anwar, Salman Ali Agha, Ehsan Adil, Raza Ali Dar, Mohammad Irfan, Zaid Alam (E), Rizwan Hussain, Imran Butt, Adnan Akmal, Bilal Khan (E), Bilawal Iqbal, Zain Abbas, Jahid Ali, Salman Fayyaz; Lahore Whites: Kamran Akmal (captain), Salman Butt, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Umaid Asif, Zafar Gohar, Amad Butt, Hassan Khan, Zeeshan Ashraf, Saif Badar (E), Tayyab Tahir, Naseem Shah (E), Kamran Ghulam, Umar Siddiq, Mansoor Amjad, Ali Khan, Ali Shafiq, Ali Zaryab; Multan: Sohaib Maqsood (captain), Mohammad Irfan, Zulfiqar Babar, Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Hafeez, Zeeshan Malik (E), Bilawal Bhatti, Mohammad Mohsin, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Imran, Gulraiz Sadaf, Ali Usman, Hasan Mohsin (E), Imran Rafiq, Hasnain Bukhari, Sadaif Mehdi, Waqar Hussain; Peshawar: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Imran Khan Jr, Israrullah, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Zohaib Khan, Taj Wali, Ali Imran, Saad Ali, Waqas Maqsood, Nabi Gul (E), Mohammad Waqas Jr, Gohar Ali, Sajid Khan, Mohammad Ilyas (E), Imran Khan Sr, Raees Ahmed, Suleman Shafqat (E); Rawalpindi: Mohammad Aamer (captain), Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Umar Amin, Fahim Ashraf, Saud Shakeel, Sami Aslam, Khalid Usman, Hammad Azam, Umair Masood (E), Naved Malik, Zahid Mansoor, Nasir Nawaz (E), Yasir Ali, Jamal Anwar, Nihal Mansoor, Haider Ali (E).