Three-day under-16 cricket tournament from today

KARACHI: National Under-16 three-day cricket tournament 2019-20 starts from Monday (today) in Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The event will end on December 10. A total of 90 players, finalised by the junior selection committee headed by Saleem Jaffar, will participate in the six-team competition.

The six teams have been divided into two pools. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Southern Punjab have been placed in Pool A, while Balochistan, Central Punjab and Northern have been placed in Pool B.

All Pool A matches will be played at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium. Islamabad’s Shalimar Cricket Ground and KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi will host Pool B fixtures. The final will be played from December 8-10. The venue for the final will be announced later.

Each team will play two three-day matches at group stage and the top two teams from both groups will play the final. PCB Senior GM Academies, Ali Zia, said: “The U16 programme was initiated in the year 2007-08 from the district level. With the passage of time, and due to its huge success, the programme became a permanent feature of the academy programme.

“The programme is a pathway for the players to groom and get a chance to feature in U19, Second XI and later in the first-class cricket before they ultimately make it to the international level.”