KARACHI: Just six days after Habib Bank Limited (HBL) clinched the departmental limited-overs competition, the eight regional outfits vie for honours from the Sunday when the National One-day Cup for Regions begin in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The feature of the upcoming tournament is that each of the regional side will field four guest players belonging to the departments. Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and wicket-keeper/batsman Kamran Akmal beef up Lahore Blues alongside youngsters Zafar Gohar and Zia-ul-Haq.

Ex-Pakistan T20 skipper Mohammad Hafeez and Sohaib Maqsood are set to bolster Rawalpindi who have also Sadaf Hussain and Kashif Bhatti in their 18-man squad.

But Hafeez will not be able to play in the event after being included in the Pakistan squad for the ODI series against Australia as the 16th player.

Discarded Test opener Shan Masood and Ahmed Shehzad, the skipper who inspired to the departmental trophy in last Monday’s final against Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) at the National Stadium in Karachi, head Islamabad’s title aspirations with Shahid Yousuf and Abid Ali retained as guest stars.

All-rounder Hammad Azam, Mansoor Amjad, Bilal Asif and Adeel Basit will be guesting out for the flamboyant Federally Administered Tribal Areas team.

After being overlooked for the upcoming One-day International series in Australia, left-arm speedster Junaid Khan will Peshawar’s charge with Test batsman Iftikhar Ahmed also featuring for his place of birth. In the list released by the PCB, Mohammad Rizwan has been pencilled in the Peshawar squad but he won’t be available owing to Pakistan’s one-day series Down Under which runs from Jan 13 until Jan 26.

Khalid Usman is the fourth guest player in the Peshawar line-up.

Usman Salahuddin, Imam-ul-Haq, Umar Siddique and Ahmed Bashir have been inducted in the Lahore Whites squad, while Karachi teams have familiar names heading their cast.

Long-discarded Pakistan left-hander Fawad Alam, the talented Rameez Aziz and the left-arm pace duo of Rumman Raees Khan and Zohaib Shera spearhead an already formidable Karachi Blues team which includes Pakistan T20 opener Khalid Latif, Khurram Manzoor and Mohammad Sami.

Anwar Ali, another Pakistan reject, is in the Karachi Whites squad along with Akbar-ur-Rehman, Tariq Haroon and Ahsan Ali, but the prolific Asif Zakir is a glaring omission.

All seven league-round matches scheduled at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi will be televised as would be both the semi-finals and final to be played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

The remaining league-round fixtures will be shared by the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi, Islamabad’s Diamond Club Ground and Marghazar Cricket Ground as well as the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar.

Schedule:

Jan 8: Peshawar vs Fata (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); Karachi Whites vs Karachi Blues (KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi); Lahore Whites vs Lahore Blues (Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad); Islamabad vs Rawalpindi (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad).

Jan 10: Karachi Whites vs Lahore Whites (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); Karachi Blues vs Lahore Blues (KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi); Rawalpindi vs Fata (Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad); Islamabad vs Peshawar (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad).

Jan 12: Rawalpindi vs Peshawar (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); Karachi Whites vs Lahore Blues (KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi); Lahore Whites vs Karachi Blues (Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad); Islamabad vs Fata (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad).

Jan 14: Islamabad vs Lahore Whites (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); Karachi Blues vs Fata (Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad); Rawalpindi vs Lahore Blues (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad); Peshawar vs Karachi Whites (Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar).

Jan 16: Islamabad vs Lahore Blues (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); Rawalpindi vs Lahore Whites (Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad); Karachi Whites vs Fata (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad); Peshawar vs Karachi Blues (Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar).

Jan 18: Rawalpindi vs Karachi Blues (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); Lahore Blues vs Fata (KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi); Islamabad vs Karachi Whites (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad); Peshawar vs Lahore Whites (Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar).

Jan 20: Rawalpindi vs Karachi Whites (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); Lahore Whites vs Fata (Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad); Islamabad vs Karachi Blues (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad); Peshawar vs Lahore Blues (Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar).

Jan 23: First semi-final — No 1 vs No 3 (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore).

Jan 24: Second semi-final — No 2 vs No 4 (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore).

Jan 27: Final (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore).

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2017