LAHORE, Sept 21: While some deserving players failed to get a place in the two Lahore region teams for the forthcoming Twenty20 Cup, many undeserving players made the squads.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the teams of all 11 regions last week for the Oct 4-10 T20 event to be held in Lahore.

The Lahore region will be represented by two teams, namely, Lahore Lions and Lahore Eagles.

Three seasoned cricketers like left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Khalil, middle-order batsman Khaqan Arsal and medium-pacer Fahad Masood are the main players who were unable to find a place in any side.

Khalil with two Tests and three ODI’s, 59 first-class matches and 201 wickets at 26.95 under his belt was also on PCB’s retainership list and deserved to get a place in one of the teams.

He was the best bowler of the 2006-07 domestic season and was placed fifth in the last season, too. He has also played eight Twenty-20 matches.

Khaqan, who is a professional cricketer representing Habib Bank Limited (HBL), has played 50 first class matches since 2002-03, scoring 1,772 runs at 25.68 with 236 as his highest. Last week Khaqan represented Lahore Lions in the Devi Lal International Twenty-20 Tournament in Haryana, India, where he was declared the event’s best player. Two teams, one from Kumara Sangakara’s Cricket Academy, Sri Lanka and the other from UAE along those which play domestic cricket in India, participated in that competition.

Fahad is also a consistent performer of domestic cricket, having 265 first-class wickets to his credit. Some of the unknown cricketers to have found places though are Lahore Eagles’ Shahab Basharat, a right-arm fast bowler, who has just one first-class match to his credit.

The match he played last

year saw him bowling three overs without taking a wicket. Similarly, the selection of Ashfaq Ahmed, an off-spinner and right-hand batsman (15 first-class matches with 498 runs and seven wickets) and Mohammad Naved (five first class matches with 21 runs) is amazing while considering the experience of the other three top cricketers.

Moreover, Sunny Irshad will play for Lahore Lions. It is said that Sunny is Test star Mohammad Yousuf’s nephew. He will lead the team. Sunny is a left-hand batsman and right-arm medium fast bowler, having played just two first class matches.