ISLAMABAD, March 18: Ashar Ziadi, a left-handed batsman, will lead Islamabad cricket squad, while Akbar Badshah will be the captain of Peshawar in the National one-day championship starting on Thursday.

Islamabad, placed in Group ‘A’ (Lahore Shalimar, Peshawer, Islamabad, Quetta, Habib Bank, Khan Research Laboratories) will be playing their first fixture on March 20 with Peshawar.

Islamabad is likely to face a tough time during its group matches in which the team has to meet KRL (March 24) and HBL (March 26) at Diamond Club.

Skipper Ashar Ziadi gave a good performance with the bat in the recently concluded Pentangluar Cricket Cup.

He played two matches from Federal Areas (FA) and scored 186 runs with an average of 62.

Imad Wasim who smashed 88 runs in his debut for Islamabad against Quetta in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in January 2007, is also on the list of probables from Islamabad.

Left arm spinner, Imad was the captain of Pakistan U-19 team in the recently concluded World Cup-2008, in Malaysia.

An official of Islamabad cricket team said that Islamabad will deliver the goods as all of their matches will be played on local club ground.

Yasin Bari is likely to support his team with some good fast bowling spells, the official added.

Peshawar team is all set to meet Islamabad depending more on the batting rather than bowling, said Gohar, manager of the team.

Teams:

Islamabad: Ashar Ziadi (capt), Umair Khan, Raheel Majeed, Asadullah Sumaree, Fayyaz Ahmed, Naeem Anjum (w.k), Rauf Akbar, Zohaib Ahmed, Shahzad Azam Rana, Saad Altaf, Fakher Hussain, Kamran Hussain, Raja Muhammad Kashif, Yaseen Bari, Rauf Anjum, Rana Shehzad.

Officials: Taimor Azam (coach), Fazl ur Rehman (manager).

Peshawar:

Akbar Badshah (capt), Nawaz Ahmed, Usman, Nauman Habib, Imran, Gohar Ali (w.k), Jibran, Jamal, Naveed, Fayyaz, Nasir, Shehzad, Mehfooz Sabri.

Officials: Sajjad Akbar (coach), Gohar (manager).