KARACHI: Despite several top stars missing for a variety of reasons, the upcoming Cool & Cool presents Haier Pentangular One-day Cup is the last opportunity for a major core of players who will form the 15-man Pakistan squad for the World Cup.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), while unveiling the five teams competing in the tournament which starts from Wednesday here at the National Stadium, has said that six players of the national team won’t be participating.

Of the certainties for the mega event in Australia and New Zealand, senior batsman Younis Khan, opener Ahmed Shehzad and wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed are being rested while Shahid Afridi has been medically advised to skip the competition because of a palm injury.

As expected Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq is a notable absentee as he recovers from the hamstring sustained during the second One-day International against New Zealand earlier this month.

The other big name missing is Mohammad Hafeez who was due to fly off to Chennai for an unofficial testing of his bowling action late on Monday.

Therefore, from the provisional 30-man World Cup squad which was announced by the PCB on Dec 6, the other player who won’t be seen in action during the Pentangular Cup apart from the above-named six is off-spinner Saeed Ajmal who has withdrawn for the cricket’s showpiece.

Ajmal was originally named in the Punjab Badshahs team but informed the selectors later on Monday that he is not available for the event. His replacement in the Badshahs side is the Islamabad all-rounder Imad Wasim, who was originally selected for Balochistan Warriors.

Zulfiqar Babar, who was surprisingly not named in any of the teams, has been now drafted into the Federal United squad.

According to well-placed sources, the announcement of the World Cup will be delayed until the Jan 7 deadline given by the International Cricket Council (ICC). That will also allow the selectors to have a final look at some of the contenders before finalising the final 15-man party.

The selectors have also opted to ignore the long followed practice of appointing as senior player as skipper of the regional outfit. Haris Sohail, who was one of the star performers during Pakistan’s 3-2 one-day defeat to New Zealand, will lead the time for the first time he skippers the Badshahs.

Junaid Khan, the left-arm paceman who has been sidelined with a knee injury that forced him out of the series against Australia and New Zealand in the UAE, has made sufficient progress in bid to regain full fitness and will captain Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Fighters.

Fawad Alam has been named to lead Sindh Knights with Test batsman Azhar Ali set to captain Balochistan Warriors. Umar Amin has been entrusted the task of skippering Federal United.

The selectors have maximum their options by ensuring all that five teams are well-balanced when finalising the squads. A number of players who were not included in the teams of their home provinces will be representing another side.

For example, former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, who hails from Sialkot, is a member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Fighters squad. Likewise, the gangling fast bowler Mohammad Irfan will line up with fellow paceman Rahat Ali in the Balochistan Warriors squad which also features fit-again Pakistan batsman Sohaib Maqsood.

The only sides with true provincial flavour as expected are Punjab Badshahs and Sindh Knights, while the Warriors provide a sample of inter-provincial harmony with players of all four provinces in their squad with Quetta-born wicket-keeper/batsman Bismillah Khan, who is the designated vice-captain, the solitary player from Balochistan!

Other prominent Pakistan cricketers who will be turning out for other ‘provinces’ are Kamran Akmal (Federal United), Abdur Rehman (Federal United), Ehsan Adil (Warriors), Sami Aslam (Warriors) and Imran Farhat (Federal United).

Meanwhile, the unveiling ceremony of the tournament logo will held on Tuesday afternoon at the National Stadium.

Squads:

PUNJAB BADSHAHS: Haris Sohail (captain), Umar Akmal (vice-captain), Nasir Jamshed, Imran Butt, Umar Siddique, Shahid Yousuf, Ali Waqas, Abdul Rehman Muzammil, Saad Nasim, Imad Wasim, Wahab Riaz, Bilawal Bhatti, Raza Hasan, Mohammad Talha, Waqas Maqsood; Sabih Azhar (coach), Mohammad Jamil (manager), Imtiaz Khan (physio), Waheed Niazi (trainer), Salman Hussain Kazmi (video analyst).

SINDH KNIGHTS: Fawad Alam (captain), Anwar Ali (vice-captain), Khurram Manzoor, Sharjeel Khan, Fazal Subhan, Khalid Latif, Asad Shafiq, Faisal Iqbal, Saad Ali, Mohammad Hasan, Sohail Khan, Tabish Khan, Mir Hamza, Shahzaib Ahmed Khan, Junaid Ilyas; Tauseef Ahmed (coach), Zaheer-ul-Hasan (manager), Usman Ghani (physio), Rashid Ali Qureshi (trainer), Shakir Khilji (video analyst).

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA FIGHTERS: Junaid Khan (captain), Mohammad Imran Khan (vice-captain), Iftikhar Ahmed, Naeemuddin, Mukhtar Ahmed, Shoaib Malik, Faisal Mubashir, Adnan Raees, Israrullah, Adil Amin, Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Zafar Gohar, Taj Wali, Azizullah; Abdur Rehman (coach), Hussain Ali (manager), Liaquat Ali (physio), Imran Khalil (trainer), Nabeel Edgar Pace (video analyst).

BALOCHISTAN WARRIORS: Azhar Ali (captain), Bismillah Khan (vice-captain), Sami Aslam, Mohammad Waqas, Sohaib Maqsood, Ayaz Tasawwar, Usman Salahuddin, Ramiz Aziz, Ali Asad, Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali, Ehsan Adil, Zia-ul-Haq, Zulfiqar Babar, Kashif Bhatti; Shaukat Mirza (coach), Tariq Sarwar (manager), Arif Shah (physio), Munawwar (trainer), Wasimuddin (video analyst).

FEDERAL UNITED: Umar Amin (captain), Zohaib Ahmed (vice-captain), Imran Farhat, Awais Zia, Shan Masood, Babar Azam, Umar Waheed, Kamran Akmal, Sarmad Bhatti, Ali Sarfraz, Abdur Rehman, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Ahmed Jamal, Hamza Nadeem; Taimur Azam (coach), Nasir Iqbal (manager), Iftikhar (physio), Javed Sheikh (trainer), Khurram Malik (video analyst).

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2014