KARACHI: After missing out World Cup selections last week, a number of national players will keep themselves busy from Monday when the Haier President’s Gold Cup One-day competition simultaneously starts in Karachi and Hyderabad.

Fawad Alam, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Azhar Ali, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Talha, Raza Hasan, Bilawal Bhatti and Sharjeel Khan were all in the list of 30 probables for the World Cup announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board in early December. But when the national selectors picked the final 15-man squad, all of them were dropped.

Despite the gloss missing from the tournament with the World Cup squad due to embark on its mission in Australia and New Zealand, the domestic event still merits importance since in case of injury, anyone in action here could be required to join the national squad.

Event starts in Karachi, Hyderabad on Monday

The top-tier tournament, featuring six departments and as many regions, would be contested by 12 teams who are divided into two pools of six each. After five rounds of league fixtures, the top two teams from each group will progress to the knockout stage.

While the bulk of matches will be played in Karachi, including both the semi-finals and final, the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad will stage five games.

The team winning the title will be get Rs1 million with Rs500,000 going to the runners-up.

Meanwhile, the second-tier Silver League tournament begins from Jan 28 – a day after the preliminary round of the Gold League event concludes.

Gold League groups:

Group-I: Karachi Dolphins, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), Peshawar Panthers, Rawalpindi Rams, Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL).

Group-II: Karachi Zebras, Lahore Lions, Islamabad Leopards, Port Qasim Authority (PQA), Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Schedule:

Jan 19: Karachi Dolphins vs SNGPL at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Ghaffar Kazmi and Qaiser Waheed; match referee: Saadat Ali); NBP vs Rawalpindi Rams at NBP Sports Complex, Karachi (Umpires: Ahsan Raza and Shozab Raza; match referee: Mohammad Javed); Peshawar Panthers vs ZTBL at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi (Umpires: Khalid Mahmood and Zameer Haider; match referee: Shahid Butt); Karachi Zebras vs KRL at Arabian Sea Country Club, Karachi (Umpires: Riazuddin and Mohammad Asif; match referee: Jamshed Hussain); Islamabad Leopards vs SBP at Southend Club Ground, Karachi (Umpires: Tahir Hussain and Hakeem Shah; match referee: Ilyas Khan); PQA vs Lahore Lions at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad (Umpires: Asif Yaqoob and Sajid Afridi; match referee: Musaddeq Rasool Khan).

Jan 21: NBP vs Peshawar Panthers at NBP Sports Complex, Karachi (Umpires: Ahsan Raza and Kamal Merchant; match referee: Mohammad Javed); Rawalpindi Rams vs SNGPL at Southend Club Ground, Karachi (Umpires: Khalid Mahmood and Mohammad Asif; Anwer Khan); Karachi Dolphins vs ZTBL at Arabian Sea Country Club, Karachi (Umpires: Qaiser Waheed and Zameer Haider; match referee: Ilyas Khan); Islamabad Leopards vs KRL at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Shozab Raza and Riazuddin; match referee: Jamshed Hussain); Karachi Zebras vs PQA at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi

(Umpires: Tahir Hussain and Ghaffar Kazmi; match referee: Mohammad Javed); Lahore Lions vs SBP at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad (Umpires: Asif Yaqoob and Sajid Afridi; match referee: Musaddeq Rasool Khan).

Jan 23: Karachi Dolphins vs Rawalpindi Rams at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi (Umpires: Naushad Khan and Hakeem Shah; match referee: Saadat Ali); Peshawar Panthers vs SNGPL at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Qaiser Waheed and Mohammad Asif; match referee: Shahid Butt); NBP vs ZTBL at NBP Sports Complex, Karachi (Umpires: Ahsan Raza and Khalid Mahmood; match referee: Mohammad Javed); PQA vs SBP at Southend Club Ground, Karachi (Umpires: Tahir Hussain and Ghaffar Kazmi; match referee: Lahore Lions vs KRL at Arabian Sea Country Club, Karachi (Umpires: Asif Yaqoob and Saqib Khan; match referee: Anwer Khan); Karachi Zebras vs Islamabad Leopards at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad (Umpires: Ijaz Ahmed and Javed Ashraf; match referee: Musaddeq Rasool Khan).

Jan 25: Karachi Dolphins vs Peshawar Panthers at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi (Umpires: Qaiser Waheed and Tahir Hussain; match referee: Nadeem Arshad); Rawalpindi Rams vs ZTBL at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Ghaffar Kazmi and Naushad Khan; match referee: Shahid Butt); NBP vs SNGPL at NBP Sports Complex, Karachi (Umpires: Asif Yaqoob and Hakeem Shah; match referee: Saadat Ali); Karachi Zebras vs Lahore Lions at Southend Club Ground, Karachi (Umpires: Khalid Mahmood and Majid Hussain; match referee: Khalid Niazi); KRL vs SBP at Arabian Sea Country Club, Karachi (Umpires: Mohammad Asif and Saqib Khan; match referee: Mohammad Javed); PQA vs Islamabad Leopards at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad (Umpires: Javed Ashraf and Kamal Merchant; match referee: Iqbal Sheikh).

Jan 27: Karachi Dolphins vs NBP at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Ijaz Ahmed and Majid Hussain; SNGPL vs ZTBL at NBP Sports Complex, Karachi (Umpires: Khalid Mahmood and Qaiser Waheed; match referee: Saadat Ali); Rawalpindi Rams vs Peshawar Panthers at Arabian Sea Country Club (Umpires: Ghaffar Kazmi and Kamal Merchant; match referee: Nadeem Arshad); Lahore Lions vs Islamabad Leopards at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi (Umpires: Naushad Khan and Hakeem Shah; match referee: Khalid Niazi); PQA vs KRL at Southend Club Ground, Karachi (Umpires: Riazuddin and Asif Yaqoob’ match referee: Jamshed Hussain); Karachi Zebras vs SBP at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad (Umpires: Tahir Hussain and Mohammad Asif; match referee: Iqbal Sheikh)

Jan 29: First semi-final – Group-I Winners vs Group-II Runners-up at National Stadium, Karachi.

Jan 30: Second semi-final – Group-II Winners vs Group-I Runners-up at National Stadium, Karachi Feb 1: Final at National Stadium, Karachi.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2015

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