KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has given special instructions to the National Stadium ground authorities to put in place hard and bouncy tracks for the Pentangular One-day Tournament to help national players prepare for the World Cup.

Former Pakistan skipper Intikhab Alam told reporters on Tuesday that it was imperative to prepare pitches with pace and bounce to aid the World Cup probables gain decent practice for the mega event which is being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

“Our aim is to help the probables get adequate preparations for the World Cup,” Intikhab, who is the PCB’s director of domestic cricket, said during the logo unveiling ceremony at the National Stadium.

Intikhab, who was accompanied by PCB director marketing Badar Refaie, senior manager National Stadium Arshad Khan and director marketing of Advance Telecom Rehan Shaikh, was optimistic that the five pitches prepared for the tournament come up to the expectations as desired by the national selectors and Pakistan team management.

“We are very hopeful that the National Stadium ground staff would be able to prepare pitches as close as possible to what we require. For the past couple of days since I arrived here, the signs are extremely positive as far the preparations of pitches are concerned,” the senior PCB official remarked.

“This would also make matches interesting to watch for the spectators because such types of pitches usually provide a lot of strokes. The bowlers would also enjoy bowling here,” he added.

Intikhab further said all the selectors and Pakistan coach Waqar Younis will be present during the tournament that runs from Wednesday until Jan 11 with a rest day on Jan 4.

“The salient feature of holding this tournament is that the selectors would gauge performance of players who will be selected for the World Cup. The announcement of the Pakistan team will also be held in Karachi on Jan 7 [the last date of submission of the squad to the International Cricket Council]. So there is added incentive for the players to show their mettle,” he emphasised.

Despite the absence of several key players, a majority would be participating in the competition which the PCB has titled as ‘Road to World Cup’.

“As you know some players of the national team won’t be playing in the tournament on instructions of the selectors. Some of them are recuperating from injuries while several of them are being rested for the World Cup,” Intikhab pointed out. “But since a number of top players will be seen in action, it would be appropriate that the official theme should be ‘Road to World Cup’ to attract people to the stadium.”

The PCB official praised Commissioner of Karachi for ensuring a peaceful tournament.

“As you know the plan was to hold the tournament in Multan but inclement weather there forced the board to shift it to Karachi. We are extremely grateful to Commissioner Karachi for taking the initiative. Shoaib Siddiqui is an avid great lover of sports and we appreciate his efforts,” Intikhab observed. “He was also very supportive during the National T20 Cup in September after it was moved to Karachi because of flooding in the Punjab.”

Rehan lauded the PCB’s efforts of promoting cricket in the country.

“We are glad to join hands with the PCB through sponsorship. All the teams are being sponsored by our company because we feel it is our duty to serve Pakistan cricket,” he said. “We are hopeful that PCB’s efforts to revive international cricket won’t go waste. Already we had seen Kenya touring Pakistan and in the future too we expect more teams to visit or shores.”

Badar Refaie disclosed that a total of Rs5 million would be given to the teams and players during the 11-match tournament.

“At the moment we can’t provide the break-up of the prize-money, such as the winners’ purse etc. We are planning to stage another ceremony during which the winners’ trophy will be unveiled,” Badar said.

Sindh Knights will meet Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Fighters in the opening day/night fixture on Wednesday. The other teams competing are Punjab Badshahs, Balochistan Warriors and Federal United.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2014