Second XI Teams named for Quaid trophy

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday named teams of six regional associations for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy for Second XIs.

The three-day non first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy begins on October in Karachi 18. Zain Abbas leads the defending champions Southern Punjab, who begin their campaign against Umair Masood-led Northern.

Azeem Ghumman captains Balochistan, while Central Punjab and Sindh are led by Mohammad Saad and Saifullah Bangash, respectively. Mehran Ibrahim, who took over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s captaincy after Khushdil Shah joined the men’s national team for the tour of Australia in the last season, will continue in the role.

The six teams have gathered at a hotel in Karachi. The event will be played on double-league basis at four venues: KCCA Stadium, NBP Sports Complex, State Bank Stadium and TMC Cricket Ground.

They begin their preparations from Tuesday (today). The players who are featuring in the National T20 Cup, being played in Rawalpindi, will join their respective sides in Karachi after the completion of the tournament. In the meantime, the teams can request their replacements for the first round fixtures.

Meanwhile, players and player support personnel, who shifted from bio-secure bubble in Lahore or became part of their squads for the first time this season, underwent Covid-19 tests and after returning negative results were integrated into the bio-secure bubble.

In line with the Covid-19 protocols announced at the start of the season, all matches will be played behind closed doors.

Balochistan: Azeem Ghumman (captain), Akbar-Ur-Rehman (vice-captain), Ali Waqas, Awais Zia, Gohar Faiz, Gulraiz Sadaf (wicketkeeper), Hidayat Ullah, Hayat Ullah, Jalat Khan, Mohammad Junaid, Mohammad Talha, Najeebullah, Shehbaz Khan, Shehzad Tareen, Taimur Khan and Usama Mir

Central Punjab: Mohammad Saad (captain), Waqas Maqsood (vice-captain), Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Aitizaz Habibullah, Ali Shan, Anas Mahmood, Atiq-ur-Rehman, Farhan Khan (wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan Niazi, Kamran Afzal, Muhammad Akhlaq, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Imran Dogar, Nisar Ahmed, Qasim Akram and Zubair Khan

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Mehran Ibrahim (captain), Zohaib Khan (vice-captain), Arshad Iqbal, Asad Afridi, Asif Afridi, Irfan Ullah Shah, Mohamamd Amir Khan, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Mohsin Khan, Mohammad Naeem Snr, Mohammad Sarwar, Musaddiq Ahmed and Waqar Ahmed

Northern: Umair Masood (captain, wicketkeeper), Umar Waheed (vice-captain), Ammad Butt, Athar Mehmood, Farzan Raja, Jamal Anwar, Kashif Iqbal, Munir Riaz, Nihal Mansoor, Raza Hasan, Shadab Majeed, Shiraz Khan, Shoaib Minhas, Taimur Sultan, Zaid Alam and Ziad Khan

Sindh: Saifullah Bangash (captain, wicketkeeper), Jahid Ali (vice-captain), Adeel Malik, Aamer Ali, Ammad Alam, Azam Khan, Danish Aziz, Fahad Iqbal, Hasan Mohsin, Mohammad Taha, Mohammad Umar, Saad Khan, Shahnawaz Dhani, Shehzar Mohammad, Tariq Khan and Waleed Ahmed

South Punjab: Zain Abbas (captain), Mohammad Imran (vice-captain), Ali Shafiq, Ali Usman, Anas Mustafa, Dilbar Hussain, Mohammad Basit, Mohammad Mohsin, Mohammad Rameez, Mohammad Umair, Mukhtar Ahmed, Salahuddin, Salman Ali, Tayyab Tahir, Waqar Hussain (wicketkeeper) and Zia-ul-Haq