Unsung cricketers from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) region will not only get a look-in by Peshawar Zalmi, the franchise will also help them find a toehold in the English county league, team owner Javed Afridi has said.

Afridi said a “mega plan” for a cricket academy, established along the lines of the Manchester United Foundation, has been put in place to unearth local talent once the inaugural edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) is over.

“The whole idea behind this franchise is to promote the players from the North who have often been neglected in the past,” Afridi said to explain what his team represented.

But Afridi, who is the CEO of HNR Company (Haier Manufacturing Unit) that has for long backed Pakistan cricket, did not respond to a specific question regarding which cricketer from KPK he felt had been given the short shrift by the national selectors.

Afridi had spoken of his KPK-driven agenda in an email interview earlier, saying he wanted to develop the cricket infrastructure around the game “in his homeland” as Peshawar and KPK were “close to his heart”.

Now, the franchise-owner said, the team and the academy would be endeavours where those “dreams will indeed come true by the grace of the Almighty”.

Team plans

According to Afridi, the team management was eyeing “some of the best international and local talent” that included former England coach Andy Flower as the batting coach.

“Yet I want to stress that talent from KPK and Peshawar will be preferred,” he said.

“The selection process isn’t going to be easy.”

Sounding confident of his $16-milion venture, Afridi said his coaching panel was “more than capable” of developing a team that was going to give the rest of the competitors in the fray a run for their money.

To get them ready for the big contest ahead, he promised the best training facilities for the players. But the cherry on top would be the chance to play in alien conditions.

“We will also provide them international exposure by getting them contracts in English county circuit besides the leading T20 leagues around the world,” Afridi said.

Afridi also said he has had “detailed discussions” with head coach Mohammad Akram and other members of the coaching panel regarding the ideal team composition.

His take on the result of these discussions: “The Zalmi squad is going to be ideally suited for the demands of the crash, bang and wallop format of the game.”

Talent hunt

Afridi, who had earlier announced a “mega plan” to establish a sports foundation for the region, said this part of his proposed programme would unravel once the PSL is over.

The foundation, to be called the Peshawar Zalmi Foundation – comprising a sports and cricket training academy – will strive to unearth young talent from KPK through talent hunt schemes.

“The announcement of setting up the foundation has already received wide acclaim across KPK, I am indeed glad and it warms my heart that the people of the province are behind me,” he said.

His initiative would be set up on the lines of the Manchester United Foundation, and will be equipped with “top class infrastructure”, he said.

“This initiative will also help in bringing together fracture communities who have suffered for a long time in our recent tumultuous past.

“There is real hope for the future.”