KARACHI: The National Junior Selection Committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has finalised a list of 46 probables from which 24 would be selected for a three-week Under-16 Advance Coaching Programme in Lahore. The final trials would be held in Lahore from Friday to Sunday (June 6-8).

According to Basit Ali, chairman of the junior selection panel, selectors have picked the most outstanding performers of the Pepsi-PCB Cricket Stars Under-16 tournament held last month.

“It was a difficult task when we sat down to pick the 40-odd cricketers because we saw a lot of fine youngsters who performed superbly for their respective regions,” Basit told Dawn on Tuesday. “The most pleasing aspect from my point of view from the tournament was that we were able to earmark the nucleus for the next Under-19 World Cup [in 2016].”

The former Pakistan batsman further observed that the talent from the under-16 level would benefit the future national senior sides.

“I have no doubt in my mind that if we keep faith in the young lot coming from the junior-level tier the future of Pakistan cricket would be in good hands. We shouldn’t overlook the importance of having such tournaments on a regular basis because this is the way to move in the right direction,” he stressed.

“Who knows how many of the players we have selected for the final trials would become Pakistan stars of the future? But there is no denying of the fact that with the talent we have seen, the future [of Pakistan cricket] appears to be secured.”

One such youngster who really caught the eye was Syed Aresh Jafferi, a 14-year-old schoolboy off-spinner who bagged a staggering 27 wickets in just three matches for Hyderabad at an average of 10.04 while claiming five-wicket haul in all five innings he bowled at a strike-rate of 15.56 per scalp.

Aresh, younger sibling of Hyderabad skipper Syed Uzair Jafferi who is also among the probables, is a diehard Saeed Ajmal fan and even tries to bowl like ace Pakistan spinner with doosra being his most lethal weapon in his armoury.

The selected 24 players would be training from June 9 to 27 at the National Cricket Academy under a pool of elite coaches.

The cricketers called up for the final trials are:

Ammad Alam, Asad Ali, Azam Khan, Mohammad Hassan Khan, S.M. Tahami, Saad Zahid, Mohammad Umar, Ashraf Khan, Anas Hameed (all from Karachi); Saad Khan, Uzair Jafferi, Shaharyar Khalid, Syed Aresh Jafferi, Mohammad Ibtesham (Hyderabad); Najid Raheel (Sialkot); Mansoor Ali (Abbottabad); Ikramullah Khan (Islamabad); Hidayatullah, Abdul Nasir, Dawood Khan (Quetta); Osama Razzaq, Mohammad Asif (Dera Murad Jamali); Mohammad Ilyas, Waqas Ahmed (Peshawar); Nasir Ali, Yasir Ali, Ghulam Mohammad (Larkana); Abdul Samad, Mohammad Saleem, Adeel Zafar (Faisalabad); Wasi-ul-Hasan, Hamza Khan, Mohammad Naveed Ramzan, Shayan Khalil (Bahawalpur); Ahmed Hasan, Ali Zaryab Asif, Mohammad Umar, Ramis Mustafa (Lahore); Ahmed Sultan, Rao Irfan, Mohammad Sheron, Umar Sadiq, Faraz Khan, Uzair Abdullah, Rao Hamza, Muneeb-ur-Rehman (Multan).

Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2014