Squads for National T20 Cup confirmed

• Head coaches select their respective squads from pool of players announced on 28 August; squads to be reshuffled for Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and Pakistan Cup closer to events

Lahore:Head coaches of the six Cricket Associations today confirmed their 16-player squads for this month’s National T20 Cup. The squads were finalised from a pool of players, which the head coaches had selected on 28 August. In accordance with the event format and team requirements, the head coaches will select and announce their squads for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and 50-over Pakistan Cup closer to these competitions.

The First XI National T20 Cup, for the first time, will be held on a double-league basis. The format has been changed keeping in view the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 and to provide the players with more opportunities to stake claims in the national side. With the HBL Pakistan Super League 2020 Draft to also take place in November, the tournament provides a great opportunity for country’s best T20 players to impress the team owners with their talent and mettle.

Northern will defend both the First XI and Second XI titles. The First XI matches will be played in Multan (1st round) and Rawalpindi (2nd round, semi-finals and final) from 30 September to 18 October and Second XI fixtures in Lahore from 1-8 October.

Northern’s First XI head coach Mohammad Wasim has named a strong side, which will be captained by Pakistan all-rounder Imad Wasim and includes Shadab Khan, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Mohammad Amir, who recently featured in the T20I series against England. The side also includes promising fast bowler Musa Khan and wicketkeeper-batsman Rohail Nazir, who led Pakistan in this year’s ICC U19 Cricket World Cup, while other internationals in the line-up are Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Sohail Tanvir and Umar Amin.

Imad will be available for the second round matches commencing 9 October in Rawalpindi as he is presently representing Nottinghamshire in the ECB’s Vitality Blast T20 competition.

Balochistan, last year’s runners-up, will continue to be captained by Pakistan international Haris Sohail. Other internationals in the side are Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Farhat, Umar Gul and Yasir Shah. The side will be coached by Faisal Iqbal.

Pakistan T20I captain Babar Azam will lead Central Punjab that also includes Kamran Akmal, Abid Ali, Bilal Asif, Ehsan Adil, Faheem Ashraf, Naseem Shah and Zafar Gohar. Babar, like Imad, will join the squad for the second round matches after finishing his commitments with Somerset. The side will be coached by Shahid Anwar.

Ahmed Shehzad and Hasan Ali were unavailable for selection due to fitness, while Salman Butt was not selected in the First XI side after he had failed to feature in any of his side’s matches in last year’s National T20 Cup. In the HBL Pakistan Super League 2020 for Lahore Qalandars, he has played in only one game to date. However, considering his experience, he was offered to lead the Second XI side, which he declined.

A star-studded Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be captained by wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan. The side includes Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imran Khan Snr, Mohammad Hafeez, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Usman Khan Shinwari and Wahab Riaz who recently toured England with the Pakistan squad. Shaheen is presently representing Hampshire and will be in action for the second round matches. The side will be coached by former Test all-rounder Abdul Razzaq.

Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed will be back in the captaincy role, determined not only to give strong performances to stake a claim for the upcoming home series against Zimbabwe but also help Sindh reach the final. Also at his disposal will be star performers like Anwar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Khurram Manzoor, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Hasnain, Rumman Raees, Sharjeel Khan and Sohail Khan. Former Test batsman Basit Ali will be the coach.

Southern Punjab will be coached by Abdul Rehman, who has retained Shan Masood as his team’s captain. Other players who have featured in international matches include Aamir Yamin, Bilawal Bhatti, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali (subject to fitness) and Sohaib Maqsood.

Squads

Balochistan

First XI – Haris Sohail (captain), Bismillah Khan (vice-captain, wicketkeeper), Akbar-ur-Rehman, Akif Javed, Ammad Butt, Awais Zia, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Butt, Imran Farhat, Kashif Bhatti, Khurram Shahzad, Taimur Khan, Umaid Asif, Umar Gul, Usama Mir and Yasir Shah
Player support personnel – Khuda Bux Silaci (manager), Faisal Iqbal (head coach), Wasim Haider (assistant coach), Ajab Gul Khan (trainer), Arif Shah (physio) and Shakir Khilji (analyst)

Second XI – Sami Aslam (captain), Jalat Khan (vice-captain), Abdul Nasir, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Akhtar Shah, Ayaz Tasawar, Gohar Faiz, Gulraiz Sadaf (wicketkeeper), Hayat Ullah, Mohammad Ibrahim, Mohammad Junaid Khan, Mohammad Talha, Najeebullah Achakzai, Rameez Raja Jnr, Salahuddin and Taj Wali
Player Support Personnel – Habib Baloch (coach-cum-manager), Shoaib Khan (assistant coach), Mohammad Hasnain (physio), Mohammad Hussain (trainer) and Waseemuddin (analyst)

Central Punjab

First XI – Babar Azam (captain), Saad Nasim (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafiq, Abid Ali, Ahmed Bashir, Bilal Asif, Ehsan Adil, Faheem Ashraf, Irfan Khan Niazi, Kamran Akmal (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Qasim Akram, Rizwan Hussain, Sohaibullah, Usman Qadir and Zafar Gohar.
Player Support Personnel – Azhar Zaidi (manager), Shahid Anwar (head coach), Samiullah Niazi (assistant coach), Mohammad Asad (physio), Yasir Mahmood (trainer) and Sajid Yasin (analyst)

Second XI – Nauman Anwar (captain), Raza Ali Dar (vice-captain), Atiq-ur-Rehman, Aitzaz Habib Khan, Bilawal Iqbal, Fahad Usman, Junaid Ali, Kamran Afzal, Muhammad Akhlaq, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Faiq, Mohammad Saad, Nisar Ahmad, Suleman Shafqat, Waqas Maqsood and Zubair Khan Lodhi
Player Support Personnel – Akram Raza (coach-cum-manager), Humayun Farhat (assistant coach), Arshad Javed (trainer), Ubaidullah (physio) and Mahmood Mohyuddin (analyst).

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

First XI – Mohammad Rizwan (captain, wicketkeeper), Junaid Khan (vice-captain), Arshad Iqbal, Asif Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imran Khan Snr, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Mohsin, Sahibzada Farhan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Usman Khan Shinwari, Wahab Riaz and Zohaib Khan.
Player Support Personnel – Farrukh Zaman (manager), Abdul Razzaq (head coach), Aftab Khan (assistant coach), Imranullah (trainer), Rehan Khalid (physio) and Waleed Ahmed (analyst).

Second XI – Mehran Ibrahim (captain), Rehan Afridi (vice-captain, wicketkeeper), Adil Amin, Asad Afridi, Israrullah, Khalid Usman, Mohammad Amir Khan, Mohammad Arif Shah, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Mohsin Khan, Mohammad Sarwar Afridi, Musaddiq Ahmad, Nabi Gul, Sajid Khan and Sameen Gul.
Player Support Personnel – Riffatullah Mohmand (coach-cum-manager), Mohammad Aslam Qureshi (assistant coach), Ibrar Ahmed (trainer), Sajjad Ali Khan (physio) and Majid Ali Shah (analyst).

Northern

First XI – Imad Wasim (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Ali Imran, Asif Ali, Farzan Raja, Haider Ali, Hammad Azam, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz, Musa Khan, Rohail Nazir (wicketkeeper), Sohail Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Amin and Zeeshan Malik
Player Support Personnel – Afaq Rahim (manager), Mohammad Wasim (head coach), Mohammad Masroor (assistant coach), Ali Sufyan (physio), Mohammad Aslam (trainer) and Mohammad Ahsan Ehsan (analyst)

Second XI – Nauman Ali (captain), Umair Masood (vice-captain, wicketkeeper), Aamer Jamal, Athar Mehmood, Faizan Riaz, Mohammad Ismail, Nasir Nawaz, Naved Malik, Nihal Mansoor, Raza Hasan, Salman Irshad, Sarmad Bhatti, Shiraz Khan, Shoaib Ahmad Minhas, Taimur Sultan and Zaid Alam.
Player Support Personnel – Fahad Masood (coach-cum-manager), Saeed Anwar Jnr (assistant coach), Farrukh Hayat (trainer), Iftikhar (physio) and Mohammad Rizwan Hanif (analyst)

Sindh

First XI – Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain, wicketkeeper), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Ahsan Ali, Anwar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Azam Khan, Danish Aziz, Hassan Khan, Khurram Manzoor, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Taha, Rumman Raees, Sharjeel Khan and Sohail Khan.
Player Support Personnel – Rashid Khan (manager), Basit Ali (head coach), Iqbal Imam (assistant coach), Imran Khalil (trainer), Imtiaz Khan (physio) and Mohammad Asim Hussain (analyst).

Second XI – Fawad Alam (captain), Hasan Mohsin (vice-captain), Abrar Ahmed, Aamer Ali, Ammad Alam, Asad Raza, Ghulam Mudassar, Ibtisam Sheikh, Jahid Ali, Mohammad Suleman, Mohammad Umar, Rameez Aziz, Saad Ali, Saifullah Bangash, Shahnawaz and Omair Bin Yousuf.
Player Support Personnel – Ghulam Ali (coach-cum-manager), Zafar Iqbal (assistant coach), Javed Sheikh (trainer), Nisar Khan (physio) and Shanullah (analyst).

Southern Punjab

First XI – Shan Masood (captain), Hussain Talat (vice-captain), Aamir Yamin, Ali Shafiq, Bilawal Bhatti, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali (subject to fitness), Saif Baddar, Sohaib Maqsood, Umer Khan, Umar Siddiq Khan, Zahid Mehmood and Zeeshan Ashraf (wicketkeeper).
Player Support Personnel – Shahid Butt (manager), Abdul Rehman (head coach), Aizaz Cheema (assistant coach), Khawaja Rohail Ali (trainer), Mohammad Tayyab (physio) and Mohammad Faisal Rai (analyst)

Second XI – Naved Yasin (captain), Agha Salman Ali (vice-captain), Maqbool Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Ali Usman, Anus Mustafa, Dilbar Hussain, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Mohsin, Mohammad Rameez, Mohammad Umair, Mohammd Irfan Jnr, Mukhtar Ahmed, Tayyab Tahir, Zain Abbas and Zia-ul-Haq.
Player Support personnel – Sajjad Akbar (coach-cum-manager), Zahoor Elahi (assistant coach), Iftikhar Hussain (trainer), Adeel Bajwa (physio), and Hafiz Mohammad Usman (analyst).

Meanwhile, the head coaches have finalised a pool of reserve cricketers, in addition to the 45 players of their Cricket Associations, who, if required, can be used as Covid-19 replacements:

Reserve players: Aamer Azmat (Peshawar), Abdul Rauf (Kurram Agency), Abdullah Muqaddam (Karachi), Abubakar Khan (Mianwali), Ali Manzoor (Lahore), Asif Fawad (Multan), Fahad Hussain (D.M. Jamali), Hamza Arshad (Rawalpindi), Hasan Raza (Mirpur), Haseeb Azam (Rawalpindi), Hazrat Shah (Islamabad), Jahanzaib Sultan (Karachi), Khalilullah (Mardan), Mohammad (D.M. Jamali), Mohammad Nadeem (Islamabad), Mohammad Shahid (D.M. Jamali), Mohammad Umar Burki (KP), Mohammad Waqas (Karachi), Nasir Khan (D.M. Jamali), Raza-ul-Hasan (Karachi), Sajjad Ali (Mardan), Salman Fayyaz (Lahore), Shehzad Azam Rana (Islamabad), Shoaib Ahmed (D.M. Jamali) and Yousaf Babar (Multan)