LAHORE: With 14 regional teams now taking part in the elite Faysal Bank National T20 Cup, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has brought forward the starting date for the event by a day to Dec 1.
The tournament which will end on Dec 9 will see 45 matches being played at three centres in Lahore namely the Gaddafi Stadium, LCCA and the picturesque Bagh-i-Jinnah ground.
The tournament will, for the first time, have a team from Bahawalpur after the PCB gave it the status of a region but there will be no teams from the other three newly-formed regions namely Larkana, Dera Murad Jamali and Fata.
A host of leading cricketers will be taking part in the tournament in which the 14 teams have been divided into two groups of seven with the top two from each group advancing to the semi-finals.
Mohammad Yousuf and Shahid Afridi, both struggling to regain some sort of form, will be leading Lahore Lions and Karachi Dolphins respectively.
Fresh from their participation in the ICC Champions League T20, Sialkot Stallions, led by former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, will be looking to defend their crown.
Pakistan’s Test and ODI skipper Misbah-ul-Haq will lead Faisalabad Wolves and Younis Khan will be captaining the Abbotabad Falcons.
Following his fallout with the Peshawar region, Pakistan’s pace spearhead Umar Gul will be leading Islamabad Leopards with Taufiq Umar and Sohail Tanvir named as skippers of Lahore Eagles and Rawalpindi Rams respectively.Lahore Lions, Karachi Zebras, Sialkot Stallions, Islamabad Leopards, Abbottabad Falcons, Multan Tigers and Quetta Bears have all been placed in Group ‘A’ while Group ‘B’ consists of Karachi Dolphins, Lahore Eagles, Rawalpindi Rams, Faisalabad Wolves, Peshawar Panthers, Hyderabad Hawks and Bahawalpur Stags.
PCB’s director for domestic cricket Zakir Khan said that the tournament will serve as a test case for both the Punjab government and the PCB as far as the security was concerned with both holding negotiations over the smooth conduct of the tournament.
Meanwhile, PCB’s media manager Nadeem Sarwar told Dawn that teams from Larkana, Dera Murad Jamali and Fata will be playing a triangular T20 Cup in Hyderabad in the near future.
“The potential of the players from these regions is not up to the required mark which is why we didn’t include them in the National T20 Cup,” he said.
Meanwhile, Aarij Ali, of the sponsoring bank reiterated the bank’s commitment to cricket and said: “Faysal Bank launched its corporate campaign early this year and we now have a Brand Promise to share with Pakistan — ‘Bank on Ambition’. Sponsorship of the domestic platform and particularly the National T20 ties in perfectly with this promise.”
During the group stage, six matches will be played on each day. The matches at Bagh-i-Jinnah and the LCCA grounds will be held in day light — the first at 0930 PST and the second at 1315 PST. Matches at Gaddafi Stadium will start at 1200 PST and 1600 PST.
The Gaddafi Stadium will also host the semi-finals and the final.
Schedule:
Dec-1: Karachi Dolphins v Peshawar Panthers (LCCA Ground); Lahore Eagles v Hyderabad Hawks (LCCA Ground): Rawalpindi Rams v Bahawalpur Stags (Bagh-i-Jinnah); Sialkot Stallions v Islamabad Leopards (Bagh-i-Jinnah); Multan Tigers v Quetta Bears (Gaddafi Stadium); Lahore Lions v Karachi Zebras (Gaddafi Stadium).
Dec-2: Sialkot Stallions v Quetta Bears (LCCA Ground), Karachi Zebras v Islamabad Leopards (LCCA Ground)l Lahore Lions v Abbottabad Falcons (Bagh-i-Jinnah); Peshawar Panthers v Bahawalpur Stags (Bagh-i-Jinnah); Lahore Eagles v Faisalabad Wolves (Gaddafi Stadium); Karachi Dolphins v Rawalpindi Rams (Gaddafi Stadium). Dec 3: Lahore Eagles v Peshawar Panthers (LCA Ground); Faisalabad Wolves v Hyderabad Hawks (LCCA Ground); Karachi Dolphins v Bahawalpur Stags (Bagh-i-Jinnah); Lahore Lions-Multan Tigers (Bagh-i-Jinnah); Islamabad Leopards v Abbottabad Falcons (Gaddafi Stadium); Karachi Zebras v Sialkot Stallions (Gaddafi Stadium).
Dec 4: Lahore Lions v Islamabad Leopards (LCCA Ground); Karachi Zebras v Quetta Bears (LCCA Ground); Peshawar Panthers v Hyderabad Hawks (Bagh-i-Jinnah); Rawalpindi Rams v Faisalabad Wolves ((Bagh-i-Jinnah); Abbottabad Falcons v Multan Tigers (Gaddafi Stadium); Karachi Dolphins v Lahore Eagles (Gaddafi Stadium). Dec 5: Karachi Zebras v Abbottabad Falcons (LCCA Ground); Lahore Eagles v Bahawalpur Stags (LCCA Ground); Sialkot Stallions v Multan Tigers (Bagh-i-Jinnah); Lahore Lions v Quetta Bears (Bagh-i-Jinnah); Faisalabad Wolves v Peshawar Panthers (Gaddafi Stadium); Rawalpindi Rams v Hyderabad Hawks (Gaddafi Stadium).
Dec 6: Karachi Zebras v Multan Tigers (LCCA Ground); Rawalpindi Rams v Lahore Eagles (LCCA Ground); Sialkot Stallions v Abbottabad Falcons (Bagh-i-Jinnah); Karachi Dolphins v Faisalabad Wolves (Bagh-i-Jinnah); Hyderabad Hawks v Bahawalpur Stags (Gaddafi Stadium); Islamabad Leopards v Quetta Bears (Gaddafi Stadium).
Dec-7: Abbottabad Falcons v Quetta Bears (LCCA Ground); Islamabad Leopards v Multan Tigers (LCCA Ground); Rawalpindi Rams v Peshawar Panthers (Bagh-i-Jinnah); Karachi Dolphins v Hyderabad Hawks (Bagh-i-Jinnah); Faisalabad Wolves v Bahawalpur Stags (Gaddafi Stadium); Lahore Lions v Sialkot Stallions (Gaddafi Stadium).
Dec-8: First semi-final (Gaddafi Stadium); Second semi-final (Gaddafi Stadium). Dec-9: Final (Gaddafi Stadium).
Squads: ABBOTTABAD FALCONS: Younis Khan (captain), Yasir Hameed, Junaid Khan, Adnan Raees, Yasir Shah, Ahmed Jamal, Mir Azam, Haroon, Syed Hammad Ali Shah, Sohail Akhtar, Rameez Ahmed, Zeeshan Jadoon, Waseem Akhtar, Khalid Usman, Amjad Waqas, Mohammad Imran Khan, Fazal-e-Rabi, Babar Khan. Manager: Fakhr-e-Alam. Sajjad Akbar (coach).
MULTAN TIGERS: Abdur Rauf (captain), Zain Abbas, Usman Liaquat, Saeed Anwar Jr, Naved Yasin, Sohaib Maqsood, Aamir Yamin, Rameez Alam, Mohammad Imran, Abdul Muqeet, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Rizwan Haider, Zulfiqar Babar, Mohammad Rameez, Adeel Hanif, Gulraiz Sadaf, Maqbool Ahmed. Wasim Haider (coach).
PESHAWAR PANTHERS: Akbar Badshah (captain), Fayyaz Ahmed, Israrullah, Riffatullah Mohmand, Iftikhar Ahmed, Jamaluddin Afghani, Shoaib Khan, Mehran Ibrahim, Nawaz Ahmed, Imran Khan, Waqar Ahmed, Azizullah, Nasir Ahmed, Zohaib Ahmed, Aslam Qureshi, Sajjad Ahmed, Rizwan Ahmed, Gohar Ali. Abdur Rehman (coach).
SIALKOT STALLIONS: Shoaib Malik (captain), Imran Nazir, Shakeel Ansar, Haris Sohail, Shahid Yousuf, Ali Khan, Mansoor Amjad, Nayyar Abbas, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Bilawal Bhatti, Raza Hasan, Umaid Asif, Ali Aslam, Shahid Muzaffar Awan, Kamran Younis, Yasir Aziz, Faisal Naveed, Adeel Malik. Ijaz Ahmed Jr (coach).FAISALABAD WOLVES: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Asif Ali, Ali Waqas, Khurram Shahzad, Naved Latif, Mohammad Salman, Waqas Maqsood, Samiullah Khan Niazi, Asad Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Ehsan Adil, Hasan Mahmood, Sabir Hussain, Jahandad, Farrukh Shahzad, Asif Hussain, Imran Khalid. Naved Anjum (coach).
LAHORE LIONS: Mohammad Yousuf (captain), Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shahzad, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Wahab Riaz, Zia-ul-Haq, Aizaz Cheema, Mustafa Iqbal, Inam-ul-Haq, Raza Ali Dar, Tanzeel Altaf, Abdul Ghaffar, Sohail Ahmed, Adnan Rasool, Mohammad Waqas Sr. Mohsin Kamal (coach).
ISLAMABAD LEOPARDS: Umar Gul (captain), Raheel Majeed, Rao Iftikhar, Zohaib Ahmed, Shan Masood, Afaq Rahim, Umair Khan, Bazid Khan, Moid Ahmed, Faizan Riaz, Imad Wasim, Naeem Anjum, Nasrullah Khan, Nadeem Abbasi, Junaid Nadir, Sarmad Bhatti, Sajid Ali, Salman Ghiyas. Taimur Azam (coach).
LAHORE EAGLES: Taufiq Umar (captain), Abid Ali, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Sami Aslam, Usman Salahuddin, Kamran Sajid, Junaid Zia, Imran Ali, Mohammad Khalil, Qaiser Ashraf, Saeed Naseem, Adnan Akmal, Asif Raza, Hafiz Mohammad Zohaib, Waqas Aslam, Farooq Aslam. Manzoor Elahi (coach).RAWALPINDI RAMS: Sohail Tanvir (captain), Shahid Ahmed, Awais Zia, Babar Naeem, Umar Amin, Hammad Azam, Jamal Anwar, Yasir Arafat, Mohammad Nawaz, Samiullah, Mohammad Rameez, Naveed Malik, Umar Waheed, Zahid Mansoor, Saad Altaf, Nasir Malik, Adnan Mufti, Adil Gulbahar. Sabih Azhar (coach).
QUETTA BEARS: Gohar Faiz (captain), Ata-ur-Rehman, Abdullah Jan, Mohibullah, Sardar Wali, Ramiz Raja, Mohammad Farhan, Mir Wais Khan, Sabir Hussain, Shah Mureed, Umar Qasim, Naushad Irshad, Jalat Khan, Hammal Wahab, Arun Lal, Nazar Hussain, Naseer Khan, Sher Ali. Arshad Khan (coach).
HYDERABAD HAWKS: Rizwan Ahmed (captain), Sharjeel Khan, Azeem Ghumman, Aqeel Anjum, Lal Kumar, Mir Ali Talpur, Shahzad Haider, Kashif Bhatti, Hanif-ur-Rehman, Farhan Ayub, Nasir Owais, Rehan Riaz, Rehan Nizamuddin, Zeeshan Gul, Mohammad Shahroz, Aslam Sattar, Jawwad Ali, Mohammad Owais. Shaukat Mirza (coach).
BAHAWALPUR STAGS: Bilal Khilji (captain), Usman Tariq, Kashif Siddique, Hamid Ali, Moinuddin, Zaka-ur-Rasheed, Mohammad Ali Haider, Kamran Hussain, Mohammad Talha, Ataullah, Mohammad Mudassar, Ansar Javed, Ahmed Raza, Imranullah, Faisal Elahi, Jahanzaib, Waqas Khan, Zulqarnain Haider. Shahid Anwar (coach).
KARACHI DOLPHINS: Shahid Afridi (captain), Anwar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Atif Maqbool, Azam Hussain, Behram Khan, Fawad Alam, hafiz Asad Baig, Khalid Latif, Khurram Manzoor, Mir Hamza, Misbah Khan, Mohammad Sami, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shahzaib Hasan, Sohail Khan, Syed Saad Ali, Tanvir Ahmed. Tauseef Ahmed (coach).
KARACHI ZEBRAS: Rameez Raja (captain), Adeel Malik, Ahmed Iqbal, Asif Zakir, Haris Ayaz, Daniyal Ahsan, Fahad Iqbal, Faisal Iqbal, Faraz Ahmed Khan, Javed Mansoor, Mohammad Waqas, Rameez Aziz, Saeed bin Nasir, Shaharyar Ghani, Tabish Khan, Tahir Khan, Uzair-ul-Haq. Azam Khan (coach).