KARACHI, March 16: Despite being depleted by national call-ups, PIA are favourites to clinch their maiden Patron’s Trophy title when they clash with Habib Bank in the five-day final at the Qadhafi Stadium in Lahore from Thursday.With seasoned campaigners to call upon, PIA have the edge over the bankers. In skipper Moin Khan, the former Pakistan captain, Asif Mujtaba, Ghulam Ali and Fazle Akbar, PIA have individuals who are more than capable of making up for the absence of seven key players who are currently on national duty.PIA are likely to include the injury-plagued Test speedster Mohammad Zahid, who had been out of action for two years. The absence of regular spin duo, Imran Tahir and Tahir Khan (both Pakistan ‘A’ tourists), have prompted them to field a four-prong pace attack.
Habib Bank, winners of the trophy on seven previous occasions, in contrast, are finding it difficult to assemble a proper team. Their skipper Hasan Raza, the bankers’ best batsman this season, and paceman Shahid Nazir are unavailable for the final since they fly off to Colombo on Thursday with the Pakistan ‘A’ squad.
With Younis Khan, the Pakistan vice-captain, Shahid Afridi, Danish Kaneria and Taufiq Umar away in India, Habib Bank are forced to bring in young batsman Salman Qadir, who did not appear in the previous games this season.
The bankers, however, are boosted by the unexpected availability of Farhan Adil, the ex-Test batsman who has decided against going to Sri Lanka with the national ‘A’ side.
Teams (from):
PIA: Moin Khan (captain), Ghulam Ali, Kamran Sajid, Shoaib Khan, Asif Mujtaba, Zeeshan Pervez, Mahmood Hamid, Janisar Khan, Najaf Shah, Aizaz Cheema, Fazle Akbar, Mohammad Zahid, Abdul Sattar.
