Foreign players from nine boards picked for PJL

LAHORE: The six Pakistan Junior League (PJL) franchises selected some of the most prominent under-19 players from Pakistan and around the world at the player draft held on Thursday in Lahore.

A total of 66 Pakistan and 24 foreign cricketers were picked by the coaches of Bahawalpur Royals, Gujranwala Giants, Gwadar Sharks, Hyderabad Hunters, Mardan Warriors and Rawalpindi Raiders. As part of the draft regulations, each of the six squads comprises 15 players: four in Elite, five in Premier and six in X-factor categories. Besides Pakistan, players from a total of nine cricket boards will have representation at the PJL which will run from October 6 to 21 at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. Nineteen matches (including playoffs and final) will be played in the single-league format tournament.

Obaid Shahid, Uzair Mumtaz, Muhammad Ismail, Saad Baig, Abbas Ali and Habibullah were named captains of Bahawalpur, Gujranwala, Gwadar, Hyderabad, Mardan and Rawalpindi, respectively.

Bahawalpur Royals:

Elite Category: Obaid Shahid (captain), Arham Nawab (vice-captain), Nathan Edwards (West Indies), Sajjad.

Premier Category: Ali Razzaq, Basit Ali, Mohammad Zeeshan, Nangeyalia Kharotai (Afghanistan), Rehan Ahmed (England)

X-factor Category: Ahmed Hussain, Farhan Yousaf, Gabriel Gallman-Findlay (Scotland), Mohammad Danish, Mohammad Tayyab Arif, Shahwaiz Irfan.

Gujranwala Giants:

Elite Category: Uzair Mumtaz (captain), Ali Asfand, Azan Awais, Tom Aspinwall (England)

Premier Category: Ariful Islam (Bangladesh), Hasnain Majid, Mohammad Ibtisam, Mohammad Shan, Shevon Daniel (Sri Lanka)

X-factor Category: Hamza Nawaz, Hasan Ali Jnr, Matthew Tromp (USA), Mohammad Aqib Asghar, Mohammad Waqas, Saqlain Nawaz.

Gwadar Sharks:

Elite Category: Mohammad Ismail (captain), Danial Ibrahim (England), Haseeb Nazim, Joseph Eckland (England)

Premier Category: Arafat Minhas, Luc Martin Benkenstein (England), Mohammad Shoaib, Saad Masood, Shamyl Hussain

X-factor Category: Adnan Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Kushal Malla (Nepal), Mohammad AbuBakar, Momin Qamar, Muhammad Zulkifal.

Hyderabad Hunters:

Elite Category: Saad Baig (captain), Afaq Khan, Aftab Ibrahim, Isai Thorne (West Indies)

Premier Category: Arbaz Khan, Haseeb-ur-Rehman, James Ross Wood (England), Lahiru Dawatage (Sri Lanka), Muneeb Wasif.

X-factor Category: Ali Naseer (UAE), Fahad Amin, Hassan Iqbal, Moeez Rana, Mohammad Zubair Jnr, Salman Ahmed.

Mardan Warriors:

Elite Category: Abbas Ali (captain), Abidullah, Archie Lenham (England), George Thomas (England)

Premier Category: Daud Nazar, Haseeb Khan, Mohammad Farooq, Muhammad Nabeel, Olly Cox (England)

X-factor Category: Aimal Khan, Burhan Niaz (Belgium), Mohammad Irfan, Shahzaib Khan, Syed Tayyab Hussain, Zohaib Khan Shanzaib.

Rawalpindi Raiders:

Elite Category: Habibullah (captain), Afnan Khan, Ali Ishaq, Hassan Eisakhil (Afghanistan)

Premier Category: Ali Raza, Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar (Afghanistan), Amir Hassan, Aseer Mughal, Kai Smith (England)

X-factor Category: Charlie Tear (Scotland), Haroon Arshad, Naveed Ahmed Khan, Usman Khan, Wahaj Riaz, Ziaullah.