LAHORE: The junior selection committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday invited 21 high-performing players born on or after Sept 1, 2002 for a training camp being held in Lahore to prepare the national team for the forthcoming U-19 Asia Cup in the UAE and the ICC U-19 World Cup in the West Indies.

The camp will be staged from Nov 26 to Dec16 and the 17-player squad leaves for the UAE on Dec 19 for the Asia Cup to be played from Dec 20 to Jan 2. The Pakistan side from the UAE will directly proceed to the West Indies on Jan 3 to play the World Cup being staged there from Jan 14 to Feb 5.

“The 21 players have been selected based on their performances in the recently-concluded U-19 tournaments organised by the PCB. A few prominent top performers, such as Abdul Faseeh, Irfan Khan Niazi, Mehran Mumtaz, Haseebullah and Abdul Wahid Bangalzai graduated from the pathway events to feature in the seniors competitions, including the four-day Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, three-day Cricket Associations Championship and Cricket Associations Challenge,” the PCB stated in a press release issued on Thursday.

According to a PCB spokesman, Ijaz Ahmed as head coach would conduct the camp while other members of the team management will be announced in due course of time.

During the camp, the players will have an opportunity to showcase their talent and potential when they participate in a series of preparatory activities, including intra-squad matches at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Probables:

Abbas Ali, Abdul Faseeh, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Ahmed Khan, Ali Asfand, Arham Nawab, Asif Ali, Awais Ali, Azan Awais, Faisal Akram, Ghazi Ghori, Haseebullah, Irfan Khan Niazi, Maaz Sadaqat, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Umer, Mohammad Shehzad, Qasim Akram, Rizwan Mehmood, Zeeshan Ahmed, Zeeshan Zameer.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2021