KARACHI, March 27: PIA, depleted by the absence of seven key players, prepare for the worst when they take on Habib Bank in the second tie of the National One-day Cricket Championship’s final round here at National Stadium Thursday.

Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq, Abdur Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Yousuf Youhana, Shoaib Malik and Faisal Iqbal, all named in Sharjah-bound squad at the weekend, were officially released from the short training camp in Lahore.

However, at the behest of the Pakistan team management, which includes skipper Waqar Younis, coach Mudassar Nazar and manager Yawar Saeed, they have decided against fulfilling their foremost obligations, that is to turn out for PIA, who have employed most of these players on lucrative salaries.

Understandably, PIA struggled like the Fokker-27 in Tuesday’s game against lowly-rated Sui Gas before winning by 30 runs. They will be definitely hard pressed for victory against Habib Bank who ruthlessly destroyed Allied Bank in the other Group-I fixture by nine wickets.

Meanwhile, it is understood that the leading stars may catch a late Thursday night flight, in case PIA fail to pull off a surprise victory against Habib Bank, to make themselves available for the last match against Allied Bank Friday.

Habib Bank, despite missing Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan (also in Pakistan squad), are a formidable combination and should have a smooth sailing towards another one-day crown.

PIA’s predicament could prove a blessing in disguise for Allied Bank. The bankers should dispose of Sui Gas at UBL Sports Complex and then have everything to play for 24 hours later to determine the semifinal lineup.

The pick of Thursday’s Group-II matches is the clash between National Bank and ADBP at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium. Both teams Tuesday respectively recorded comfortable victories over Pakistan Customs and Wapda, who meet in the other game at Sheikhupura,

Thursday’s schedule (March 28):

Group-I:

*Habib Bank v PIA at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Salim Badar and Islam Khan. Match referee: Taslim Arif).

*Allied Bank v Sui Gas at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi (Umpires: Feroz Butt and Afzaal Ahmed, Match referee: Raees Ahmed).

Group-II:

*National Bank v ADBP at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad (Umpires: Mohammad Nazir Junior and Iftikhar Malik. Match referee: Abdul Sami).

*Pakistan Customs v Wapda at Sheikhupura Stadium (Umpires: Zafar Iqbal Pasha and Nadeem Ghauri. Match referee: Shafiq Ahmed).