KARACHI, Jan 18: Sindh will launch the defence of their Faysal Bank Pentangular Cup cricket title from Thursday when they face Khyber Pakhtunkhwa here at the National Stadium.

Former Test fast bowler Mohammad Sami has been nominated to skipper the reigning champions in arguably the toughest first-class domestic event which runs from Jan 18 to Feb 22. Team coach and ex-Pakistan paceman Saleem Jaffer has left out out-of-sorts. Pakistan medium-pacer Tanvir Ahmed, batsmen Ali Asad and Rizwan Ahmed and all-rounder Mir Ali Talpur from the original 18-man squad for the opening fixture.

The batting offers more depth to the Sindh squad with the likes of Khurram Manzoor, Fawad Alam, Shahzaib Hasan, Sharjeel Khan, Aqeel Anjum and Iqbal brothers — Faisal and the talented Fahad — along with veteran Saeed bin Nasir competing for six spots. In addition, Sindh can also rely on wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed for runs.

The bowling revolves around seasoned out-of-favour Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria and pace triumvirate of Sami, Anwar Ali and Tabish Khan.

Upcoming leg-spinner Yasir Shah will skipper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who also have the services of experienced former Test batsman Yasir Hameed apart from a host of the players who played a pivotal role in guiding Peshawar to the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Division II title this season.

Balochstan, who were the runners-up last season after losing the final against Sindh by four wickets in Lahore, take on Sohail Tanvir-led Federal Areas in the other first-round match at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad.

The other team in the competition is the formidable Punjab side which will start its campaign against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at Faisalabad from Jan 25. Skippered by Shoaib Malik, Punjab easily have the strongest batting line-up in the tournament, at least on paper with Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shahzad, Haris Sohail, Ayub Dogar and Usman Salahuddin to name a few.

The winners of the Feb 18-22 final at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore will earn a whooping Rs1 million with the runners-up to Rs500,000.

Squads: SINDH: Mohammad Sami (captain), Sharjeel Khan, Khurram Manzoor, Aqeel Anjum, Shahzaib Hasan, Fawad Alam, Fahad Iqbal, Saeed bin Nasir, Faisal Iqbal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Faraz Ahmed Khan, Tabish Khan, Anwar Ali, Danish Kaneria, Tanvir Ahmed, Rizwan Ahmed, Ali Asad, Mir Ali Talpur.

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA: Yasir Shah (captain), Yasir Hameed, Riffatullah Mohmand, Akbar Badshah, Shoaib Khan, Mohammad Fayyaz, Adnan Raees, Khalid Usman, Zohaib Khan, Zulfiqar Jan, Imran Khan, Ahmed Jamal, Riaz Afridi, Waqar Ahmed, Jamaluddin, Nadeem Akhtar, Israrullah, Ikramullah.

FEDERAL AREAS: Sohail Tanvir (captain), Rao Iftikhar, Umar Amin, Bazid Khan, Afaq Raheem, Umair Khan, Zohaib Ahmed, Usman Saeed, Awais Zia, Hammad Azam, Naeem Anjum, Babar Naeem, Sadaf Hussain, Nasrullah Khan, Imad Wasim, Saad Altaf, Jamal Anwar, Shoaib Ahmed Minhas.

BALOCHISTAN: Saeed Anwar Jr (captain), Taimur Ali, Naved Yasin, Gulraiz Sadaf, Zain Abbas, Abdur Rauf, Arun Lal, Rizwan Haider, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Irshad, Zulfiqar Babar, Bismillah Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Abid Ali, Ata-ur-Rehman, Badar Ali, Mohammad Waris, Mohammad Ali Raheem.PUNJAB: Shoaib Malik (captain), Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shahzad, Mohammad Yasin, Kamran Sajid, Mansoor Amjad, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Ayub Dogar, Usman Salahuddin, Mohammad Saad, Kamran Akmal, Raza Hasan, Ali Imran, Bilawal Bhatti, Prince Abbas, Asif Raza, Naseer Akram, Mohammad Khalil.

Schedule: Jan 19-22: Sindh v Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (National Stadium, Karachi); Punjab v Federal Areas (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad).Jan 25-28: Sindh v Balochistan (National Stadium, Karachi); Punjab v Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad).

Jan 31-Feb 3: Punjab v Balochistan (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore); Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v Federal Areas (Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar).

Feb 6-9: Punjab v Sindh (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore); Balochistan v Federal Areas (Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan).

Feb 12-15: Federal Areas v Sindh (Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v Balochistan (Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar).

Feb 18-22: Final (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore).