LAHORE, Sept 18: While the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has taken another U-turn on fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar by including him in the Islamabad Region team for the forthcoming Twenty20 Cup, prolific batsman Younis Khan is not available for the contest as he is going to play in the Sheffield Shield in Australia, starting from Oct 10.

Shoaib’s name was announced in the Islamabad Leopards squad on Thursday as the PCB officially announced all the 13 regional teams although he had not been included in the earlier list shown on a slide during the tournament’s launching ceremony held last Monday.

The short five-day competition will be held at three grounds in Lahore — Gaddafi Stadium, Bagh-i-Jinnah and the LCCA — from Oct 4 to 8.

Just a day earlier, PCB lawyer Taffazzul Hussain Rizvi had said that Shoaib could only play in any tournament after paying a cash fine of Rs 7 million, imposed on him by a PCB appellate tribunal.

A PCB official while refusing to comment on Shoaib’s inclusion since the case was pending in a court of law, said that Peshawar’s regional head Wasal Durrani had informed the PCB that Younis was not available as he was going to play in the Sheffield Shield.

While Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik will lead the defending champions Sialkot Stallions, his deputy in national team Misbah-ul-Haq has been appointed captain of the Faisalabad Region.

The Stallions look somewhat depleted since three of their key players — medium-fast Mohammad Asif, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and dashing opener Imran Nazir — are not available for the team.

While Asif is facing a doping scandal, Imran and Naved are banned from playing for Pakistan at any level due to their association with the breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL).

Lahore Lions, under the leadership of seasoned campaigner Mohammad Yousuf appear formidable as they also have experienced players such as Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal, Nasir Jamshed and Junaid Zia.

Islamabad’s pace attack is powerful with the presence of Rao Iftikhar Anjum and Shoaib Akhtar. Bazid Khan and Pakistan Junior skipper Imad Wasim will be strengthening the batting line up.

Medium-fast Sohail Tanvir and Yasir Arafat are the two internationals available to the Rawalpindi Region.

Medium-fast Umar Gul as captain and Yasir Hameed and medium-pacer Fazle Akbar are the three other internationals available to the Peshawar Region.

Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Khan Afridi will lead Karachi Dolphins, which boast of internationals like Khalid Latif, Khurram Manzoor, Naumanullah, Fawad Alam, Sarfraz Ahmed and Sohail Khan.

Led by Faisal Iqbal, Karachi Zebras will fight for the top honours with prominent players like Shadab Kabir and Asim Kamal.

While the Multan Region only has the international medium-fast Abdul Rauf, the other regional teams could hardly find international players for their ranks.

Squads:

Sialkot Region: Kamran Younis, Naeemuddin Ali Khan, Shoaib Malik (captain), Qaiser Abbas, Bilal Hussain, Ayub Dogar, Faisal Naved, Mansoor Amjad (vice-captain), Shakeel Ansar, Mohammad Ali Bhutta, Kashif Raza, Sarfraz Ahmed, Aziz Malik, Abdur Rehman.

Reserves: Prince Abbas, Adil Raza, Atiq-ur-Rehman, Ahmed Butt, Farhan Malik.

Karachi Dolphins: Shahid Afridi (captain), Khalid Latif, Khurram Manzoor, Naumanullah, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Afsar Nawaz, Sarfraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper), Faraz Ahmed, Tahir Khan, Sohail Khan,

Anwar Ali, Tanvir Ahmed, Malik Aftab, Tariq Haroon.

Reserves: Shaharyar Ghani, Ali Asad, Akbar Rehman, Haris Ayaz, Adnan Kaleem.

Karachi Zebras: Faisal Iqbal (captain), Shadab Kabir, Shahzaib Hasan, Asif Zakir, Asim Kamal, Shahzaib Ahmed, Saeed bin Nasir, Ahmed Zeeshan Malik, Fahad Khan, Uzair-ul-Haq, Tabish Khan, Abdul Ameer, Azam Hussain, Misbah Khan, Fahad Iqbal.

Reserves: Agha Sabir, Nauman Alvi, Danial Ahsan, Rameez Raja, Faraz Ahmed Khan.

Faisalabad Region: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Samiullah Khan, Asad Ali, Khurram Shehzad, Imran Khalid, Asif Hussain, Ammar Mahmood, Usman Arshad, Saadat Munir, Mohammad Salman (wicketkeeper), Ahmed Hayat, Mohammad Talha, Mohammad Laeeq.

Reserves: Ijaz Ahmed, Asad Zarar, Imran Ahmed, Hamza Zaheer, Hasan Mahmood.

Multan Region: Abdur Rauf (captain), Usman Tariq (vice-captain), Kamran Hussain, Sohaib Maqsood, Mohammad Irshad, Gulraiz Sadaf, Hammad Tariq, Bilal Khilji, Ansar Javed, Azharullah, Zulfiqar Babar, Saeed Anwar Jr, Mohammad Hafeez, Naved Yasin, Rameez Alam.

Reserves: Ahmed Raza, Kashif Naved, Qaiser Shehzad, Imranullah Aslam, Mohammad Zahid Changezi.

Rawalpindi Region: Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat (vice-captain), Umar Amin, Babar Naeem, Naved Ashraf (captain), Usman Saeed, Fawad Hussain, Zahid Mansoor, Sajid Mahmood, Yasim Murtaza, Mohammad Aamer, Yasir Ali, Mohammad Rameez, Tanzil-ur-Rehman, Awais Zia.

Reserves: Adnan Mufti, Asad Zahid, Hammad Azam, Mohmmmad Ayaz, Rizwan Akbar.

Quetta Region: Nasim Khan, Shoaib Khan (captain), Taimur Ali, Sabir Hussain, Shehzad Tareen, Samiullah, Jalat Khan, Nasir Khan, Arun Lal, Faisal Irfan, Nazar Hussain, Sher Hasan, Sanaullah, Mohammad Irfan, Gauhar Faiz.

Reserves: Mohammad Alam, Majid Hussain, Hamidullah, Sanaullah Baloch,Aimal Khan.

Islamabad Region: Shoaib Akhtar, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Ashar Zaidi (captain), Raheel Majeed (vice-captain), Umair Khan, Afaq Rahim, Bazid Khan, Fayyaz Ahmed, Ali Sarfraz, Naeem Anjum (wicket-keeper), Rauf Akbar, Immad Wasim, Rana Shehzad Azam, Junaid Nadir, Fakhar Hussain.

Reserves: Asadullah Sumairi, Aamer Khan, Mirza Wasim Baig, Mir Usman, Umair Mir.

Lahore Eagles: Ali Raza (captain), Suleman Khan, Asif Khan, Usman Malik, Asif Raza, Mohammad Saeed, Mohammad Naved, Junaid Malik, Ahmed Butt, Azhar Ali, Adnan Raza, Ali Haider, Zulqarnain Haider, Shahab Basharat, Ashfaq Ahmed.

Reserves: Kamran Sajid, Anwar Hafeez, Mohammad Shehzad, Azhar Attari, Aamer Sajjad.

Lahore Lions: Mohammad Yousuf (captain), Salman Butt, Kamran Akmal, Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad, Wahab Riaz, Imran Ali, Junaid Zia, Shahzawaz Malik, Sunny Irshad, Kashif Siddiq, Waqas Ahmed, Aizaz Cheema, Sohail Ahmed, Umar Akmal.

Reserves: Shahbaz Butt, Khaqan Arsal, Rizwan Ahmed Jnr, Wasim Khan, Mohammad Khalil.

Abbottabad Region: Adnan Raees (captain), Wajid Ali (vice-captain), Armaghan Elahi, Ghulam Mohammad, Fawad Khan, Usman Khan, Kashif Rashid Mansoor, Riaz Kail, Noor-ul-Amin, Yasir Shah, Mir Azam Khan, Mohammad Junaid, Khalid Usman, Amjad Waqas.

Reserves: Sajjad Ali, Irfan Khan, Mohammad Naeem, Iftikhar Mahmood, Rahim Baz.

Hyderabad Region: Faisal Athar (captain), Shahid Qambrani, Rizwan Ahmed, Hanif Malik, Aqeel Anjum, Nasarullah Memon, Mir Ali Talpur, Taj Wasan, Khadim Shah, Farhan Ayub, Pir Zulfiqar, Lal Kumar, Kashif Bhatti, Nauman Ali, Aslam Manganhar.

Reserves: Shoaib Laghari, Hanif-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Noor, Sharjeel, Abid Ali.

Peshawar Region: Rafatullah Mohmand, Yasir Hameed (vice-captain), Usman Zaib, Waqar Ahmed, Aftab Alam, Wajahatullah Wasti, Akbar Badshah, Jamal-ud-Din, Jannisar Khan, Zohaib Khan, Zulfiqar Jan, Umar Gul (captain), Fazl-e-Akbar, Nauman Habib, Mohammad Aslam Qureshi.

Reserves: Shoaib Khan, Nawaz Ahmed, Mahfooz Sabri, Shakeel-ur-Rehman, Sajjad Ahmed.