KARACHI, Oct 7: Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif and Test reject Faisal Iqbal will lead the two Karachi teams in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship, which is scheduled to begin from Sunday.

Rashid will skipper the 15-member Karachi Blues team while Faisal is the captain of the Karachi Whites squad. Hasan Raza, another Test discard, has been named Karachi Blues vice-captain. Former Pakistan Under-19 skipper Maisam Hasnain is the Karachi Whites vice-captain.

The squads were picked by a Pakistan Cricket Board-nominated selection committee, headed by Abdul Raquib, after a two-day trial held on Sept 29 and 30 at the PCB Regional Academy Ground.

All current Test and international players are eligible to play for their regional teams whenever available. Moin Khan, Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria and Asim Kamal, the quartet not included in the original squads, are likely to figure in some of the matches depending on their availability.

Former Test pacemen Azeem Hafeez and Rashid Khan have named respective coaches of the teams to be managed by Shafiq Kazmi and Zafar Ahmed. The followers of Karachi cricket may not agree with the selections made by the PCB. For example, the omission of Farhan Iqbal comes as a surprise since the youngster is a talented wicket-keeper/batsman. In fact, some of former Test stars are of the opinion that Farhan is good enough to be considered for national selection.

Unlike last season, Karachi and Lahore are fielding two teams each in the 11-team regional first-class tournament. In the opening round, the Karachi sides will face each other at the National Stadium.

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