KARACHI: The 15-member Pakistan Shaheens squad will depart for Colombo from Lahore in the early hours of Tuesday to feature in the Emerging Teams Asia Cup, set to be held from July 13 to 23.

Led by wicket-keeper/batter Mohammad Haris, the Shaheens will kick of their campaign against Nepal on July 14 before taking on UAE ‘A’ and India A on July 17 and 19 respectively.

The sides are slotted in Group ‘B’, meanwhile, Group ‘A’ features Afghanistan ‘A’, Sri Lanka ‘A’, Oman A and Bangladesh A. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.

The Shaheens squad prepared for the tournament in a six-day training camp at Lahore’s National Cricket Academy under the supervision of head coach Mohammad Masroor and his support staff.

Apart from the 22-year-old Haris, defending champions Shaheens will have the services of seven Pakistan senior internationals, namely Arshad Iqbal, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shahnawaz Dahani and Tayyab Tahir.

“We are ready for the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup,” Haris said in a statement. “We won’t let the pressure of being defending champions affect us.

“The players have shown great commitment and dedication during the camp, and we have prepared ourselves according to the conditions in Sri Lanka. Having been to Sri Lanka before, we are familiar with the challenges we may face.”

Squad: Mohammad Haris (captain, wicket-keeper), Omair Bin Yousuf, Amad Butt, Arshad Iqbal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mubasir Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shahnawaz Dahani, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir

Non-traveling reserves: Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Junaid, Rohail Nazir.

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2023