LAHORE: Eight regional teams, divided into two pools, are featuring in the Cool and Cool Haier Super Eight T20 Cricket Cup to be held at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad from May 11 to 18.

The significant feature of the event is tainted medium-fast bowler Mohammad Amir’s inclusion in Rawalpindi Rams team, after the ICC has allowed him to play domestic cricket.

Pakistan T20 captain Shahid Afridi is not taking part in the tournament as he will be playing cricket in England.

Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan, who have announced retirement from the shorter version of the game, are leading Faisalabad Wolves and Abbottabad Falcons, respectively.

The logo of the event was launched in a simple ceremony at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) here on Friday.

Each team has one sponsor as the PCB has succeeded in reducing financial burden on it.

Defending champions Lahore Lions will be led by Test discarded wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal.

The reigning champions have other prominent cricketers like Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Pakistan One-day skipper Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal, Saad Naseem, Wahab Riaz and Aizaz Cheema.

Apart from Misbah, Faisalabad has key players like Saeed Ajmal, Ehsan Adil and Mohammad Talha.

Karachi Dolphins will be led by Sarfraz Ahmed in Afridi’s absence. Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Sami, Anwar Ali and Shahzaib Hassan are other major players of Dolphins.

Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik is named as captain of Sialkot Stallions. Shoaib had to play for Lahore Lions but Sialkot Region convinced him to play for his native city.

Junaid Khan, Yasir Shah and Yasir Hameed are prominent players of Abbottabad Falcons other than Younis.

The winners will pocket cash prize of Rs two million while the runners-up will earn Rs one million.

Other cash prizes of Rs one million will also be distributed among individual performers.

PCB’s chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed unveiled the logo of Rawalpindi Rams. He said the PCB was committed to revive international cricket in Pakistan and thanked all sponsors of the event.

Top two sides of each group will qualify for the semi-finals to be played on May 17 and the final on May 18.

Draws (The first match starts at 5:00pm while the second at 9:00pm):

May 11: Rawalpindi Rams vs Abbottabad Falcons; Sialkot Stallions vs Peshawar Panthers.

May 12: Multan Tigers vs Faisalabad Wolves; Lahore Lions vs Karachi Dolphins.

May 13: Peshawar Panthers vs Abbottabad Falcons; Sialkot Stallions vs Rawalpindi Rams.

May 14: Karachi Dolphins vs Multan Tigers; Lahore Lions vs Faisalabad Wolves.

May 15: Peshawar Panthers vs Rawalpindi Rams; Sialkot Stallions vs Abbottabad Falcons; Lahore Lions vs Multan Tigers; Faisalabad Wolves vs Karachi Dolphins.

May 17: Semi-finals: 1st of Group A vs 2nd of Group B; 1st of Group B vs 2nd of Group A.

May 18: Final.

Squads:

MULTAN TIGERS: Sudaif Mehdi, Ammar Ali, Kashif Mansha, Mohammad Yasir Butt, Ahmed Rasheed, Babar Ali, Naveed Yaseen, Aamir Yameen, Ali Zohaib, Zulifqar Babar, Gulraiz Saddaf (captain), Sohaib Bilal, Aftab Niazi, Mohammad Ali Niazi, Mohammad Azeem, Mohammad Zahid, Sikandar Khan Khuchi and Mohammad Amir.

RAWALPINDI RAMS: Awais Zia, Naveed Malik, Akhtar Ayub, Mohammad Nawaz, Hammad Azam, Khurram Shahzad, Adnan Mahmood, Sohail Tanvir (captain), Jamal Anwar, Samiullah, Zeeshan Malik, Tayyab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Zahid Mansoor, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Ramiz, Sarmad Hameed, Umar Waheed.

ABBOTTABAD FALCONS: Younis Khan (captain), Yasir Hameed, Junaid Khan, Yasir Shah, Adnan Raees, Khalid Usman, Ahmad Jamal, haroon, Shakeel Ahmad, Rameez Ahmad, Waqar Orakzai (wicketkeeper), Ehtisham Sultan, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Naseem, Fakhar Zaman, Javedullah, Sajjad Ali, Mohammad Ikramullah.

SIALKOT STALLIONS: Shoaib Malik (captain), Mukhtar Ahmad, Haris Sohail/Adil Raza, Ali Khan, Nauman Anwar, Ayaz Tasawar, Bilal Hussain, Salman Ali, Zeeshan Mushtaq, Ahmad Butt, Raees Haider, Bilawal Bhatti/Faisal Rasheed, Hassan Ali, Umaid Asif, Sultan Ahmad, Najaf Shah, Usama Mir.

PESHAWAR PANTHERS: Riffatullah Mahmand (captain), Israrullah, Iftikhar Ahmad, Mohammad Fayyaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Adil Amin, Mohammad Rizwan, Gohar Ali, Zohaib Khan, Mussadiq, Imran Khan, Taj Wali, Jibran Khan, Jamaluddin, Wasif Nawaz, Imran Khan, Azam Khan, Mohammad Umair.

KARACHI DOLPHINS: Shahzaib Hassan, Rameez Raja, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Hassan, Fazal Subhan,Mohammad Waqas, Sarfraz Ahmad (captain), Ahmed Iqbal, Mohammad Sami, Anwar Ali, Babar Rehman, Abdul Ameer Khan, Fawad Khan, Yasir Hussain, Faraz Ahmad Khan, Ali Mudassir, Arsalan Bashir, Ahsan Jamil.

FAISALABAD WOLVES: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Bilal Shah, Farrukh Shahzad, Khurram Shahzad, Asad Ali, Samiullah Khan Niazi, Ehsan Adil, Hamza Zaheer, Jehndad Khan, Imran Khalid, Hassan Mahmood, Mohammad Salman, Hassan Mahmod, Ali Shan, Asif Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Hasan Sardar, Mohammad Talha.

LAHORE LIONS: Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal (captain), Azhar Ali, Saad Naseem, Imran Butt, Wahab Riaz, Aizaz Cheema, Imran Ali, Mohammad Aftab, Adnan Rasool, Mustafa Iqbal, Asif Raza, Qaiser Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Umar Siddique.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2015

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