Sarfraz to lead Sindh in National T20 Cup

KARACHI: Sarfraz Ahmed will serve as skipper as Sindh on Wednesday announced the 16-member squad for the National T20 Cup which will be held at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, from October 13 to 24.

There will be a break of the first-class cricket because of this event. Sindh coach Azam Khan announced the squad during a press conference here at the National Stadium.

As many as six associations teams will feature in the slots which will be held on single league basis. The leading four sides will make it to the semi-finals which will be held on October 23. Azam said that his side would live up to the billing. “Our team is very good as far as T20 cricket is concerned,” he told ‘The News’.

“We have good players. We have Hasnain, Anwar Ali, Sohail Khan, Sarfraz himself is playing, Kashif Bhatti is there, Asad Shafiq and Saud Shakeel. It’s a good combination of youth and experience. I think these boys should play good cricket,” Azam said.

About the format, he said there would be little chance of a comeback in such an event. “You know one team will play five matches before the semi-finals and there is little chance of a fightback,” Azam said.

“In double league events, if you make a mistake you can stage a fightback but in this format there is hardly any chance,” the coach said. Azam expects good cricket at Faisalabad because the weather there is turning cool. “I don’t think the weather there will be too cold. Yes good cricket is expected. The players will not get much tired. The dew factor should not be there as matches will be played in daytime,” he said.

The head coaches of the rests of the associations will announce their squads on Thursday (today) during news conferences. Sindh squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Sohail Khan, Khurram Manzoor, Anwar Ali, Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq (vice-captain), Mohammad Hasnain, Ahsan Ali, Saud Shakeel, Fawad Alam, Kashif Bhatti, Mirza Ahsan Jamil, Omair bin Yousuf, Mir Hamza, Saad Ali, Waleed Ahmed.