Three teams of Punjab have cruised into the semifinals of the ongoing National T20 Cricket Cup in Rawalpindi. Both teams of Lahore - Whites and Blues - and another of the Faisalabad region made to the last four in the eight team’s competition.

The Lahore Whites are topping the table with 11 points, followed by its sister team Blues with 11 points are at the second place, because of a slight difference in the net-run-rate. Faisalabad with nine points are at the third place, while the new entrant region of Fata with seven points is at the fourth place. Fata also qualified for the semifinals on a better run-rate against the lone team of Karachi Whites, which has also grabbed seven points. Islamabad (five points), Rawalpindi (three) and Peshawar (three) are the other regions competing in this national event.

The performances of the Lahore Region has been remarkable in the season (2017-18), as its both teams have also qualified for the Super Eight stage of the country’s premier event of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, which will start soon after the end of ongoing T20 Cup. All the matches of the main round of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy have been allocated to Karachi and Hyderabad.

For the Lahore Whites, the presence of star players like discarded batsmen Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt and Test discarded fast bowler Wahab Riaz made the major impact with their dazzling display. Both Kamran and Salman have set a new world record of scoring 209 with their unbroken opening partnership in the last match against Islamabad. Kamran has lion’s contribution with a sparkling century. He made 150, laced with 12 towering sixes and 14 boundaries on 72 balls.

Salman hit 49-ball 55 in that history-making stand. Both now must be strong candidates for the national team, which will tour New Zealand next month for the shorter version matches. Overall, Kamran plundered 382 runs from this event at the averages 76.40. Salman is, however, dominating with the aggregate of 276 with the best averages at 113.00.

Salman was caught in the scam in his very first series as captain. Fast bowlers duo Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Aamir also remained suspended for five years in the same scandal. Till now, only Aamir could regain his place in the national team whereas both Salman and Asif are struggling for the international cricket.

The bowling strength of the Lahore Whites is also formidable as top four bowlers of the event are from this side. Among them are pacer Umaid Yousaf (10 wickets, 10.36 averages), Wahab (10 wickets, 14.20 averages), off-spinner Bilal Asif (nine wickets, 13.56 averages) and another spinner Asif Ali (nine wickets 16.89 averages). But the Lahore Blues’ bowling strength is not so strong as a discarded Aizaz Cheema and off-spinner Khalid Usman are their top wicket takers with seven wickets each.

Last week, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Najam Sethi chaired the first meeting of the Board of Governors (BoGs) in Lahore. Sethi was elected the PCB chairman in August this year in place of Shaharyar M Khan. Lahore, Sialkot and Quetta are three new regions joining the BoGs, while fourth place is for Fata. But no representative from Fata is on the board because ad hoc is imposed on that region. The regions, which vacated the BoGs, are Islamabad, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Peshawar. Lahore is on the BoGs for the second time. Interestingly, Shahrez Abdullah Rokhari will represent Lahore in the BoGs the next three years. First time, Lahore was in the inaugural BoGs, formed in 2007. In that term Shahrez’s father, the late Aamir Hayat Rokhari, represented the Lahore region. It is the first time that Shahrez contested the elections of the Lahore Region and he also succeeded. In the BoGs meeting, the PCB also decided to renovate its lone building in Lahore, the Cricket House, on Jail Road to increase financial resources.

The Punjab Golf Championships, International Tennis Federation Senior Tennis Championships and the National Men and Women Karate are three major events, which are in progress in Lahore. The golf event is a four-day event, being held at the Lahore Gymkhana course, where more than 150 golfers from across the country are competing for different events of seniors, amateur and women. The tennis championship is a six-day event, where foreign players could have also entered. Only Naresh Khatri from India is in the event.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2017