LAHORE: The 15-member Pakistan Shaheens squad for the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou will feature eight senior internationals and will be lead by emerging all-rounder Qasim Akram, the country’s cricket board announced on Thursday.

The Shaheens squad includes Pakistan discards Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir. Meanwhile, comparatively less experienced international cap holders in Aamir Jamal and Arshad Iqbal are also a part of the squad for the T20 event, set to be played from Sept. 28 to Oct. 7.

The side’s captain Qasim, 20, has played 20 first-class matches and 40 T20 matches and also captained Pakistan U-19 in the ICC U-19 World Cup in 2022.

The rest of the squad is composed of upcoming players, namely Arafat Minhas, Omair Bin Yousuf, Rohail Nazir and Sufiyan Muqeem — all having represented the Shaheens recently.

Over the past few months, the Shaheens whitewashed Zimbabwe A in the two four-dayers, but lost 4-2 in the 50-over matches to Zimbabwe Select.

Shaheens later won the Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Sri Lanka in July, beating India A by 108 runs in the final. However, they finished as runners-up in the six-team Top End T20 Series in Darwin, Australia earlier this month

The side’s Asian Games journey will start with the quarter-finals — scheduled for Oct. 3 and 4 — as per the tournament’s rules. The semi-finals will be played on Oct. 6, a day before the finale.

A close competition is in the offing in the tournament as the continent’s top cricket nations including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistanand Bangladesh are will be playing in it along with 13 other countries, making it a contest of overall 18 teams.

United Arab Emirates, Nepal, Hong Kong, Oman, Malaysia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Indonesia and Bhutan are the other teams which take part in the Asian Games men’s cricket event.

Pakistan won a bronze medal in their maiden and only appearance in the Asian Games, held in Guangzhou in 2010.

Pakistan Shaheens squad:

Qasim Akram (captain), Omair Bin Yousuf (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Arafat Minhas, Arshad Iqbal, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Mirza Tahir Baig, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Akhlaq (wicket-keeper), Rohail Nazir, Shahnawaz Dahani, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Qadir

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2023