- Local representation set to invigorate sense of belonging amongst players and attract more
viewership - Onus of captaincy on emerging international and domestic players to groom future leaders
- Teams to gather on 11 September in the cities hosting their first contests
- “We took the performances of the past three years, across all formats, into consideration when we sat down to have a look at these teams,” says Rashid Latif
Lahore, September 3, 2019: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) today announced six Cricket Association sides for the upcoming domestic cricket season 2019-20, which gets underway with the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy from 14 September.
The local coaches and juniors selectors had initially prepared the provisional squads of 32 players per side, before they were reviewed and finalized by a three-member independent panel – comprising Misbah-ul-Haq, Nadeem Khan and Rashid Latif, who also took into account player performances from past three seasons.
The PCB centrally contracted cricketers, who are not handed the domestic contracts, will feature in domestic events when not on the national duty. They have been divided equally amongst the Cricket Associations to ensure top-quality and competitive cricket.
White ball specialists – both domestic and international – have also been allocated to the six teams, who will be remunerated as per the domestic match fee model.
The six Cricket Association sides will gather in the cities, where they play their first matches, on 11 September.
For a robust succession plan, the onus of leading the cricket association sides in the upcoming domestic season has been put on the young and emerging international and domestic players. The PCB has also brought in the concept of mentorship, which will see former Test cricketers – with heaps of first-class experience – groom up-and-coming cricketers in the Second XI sides.
Of the 32 contracted players with Balochistan Cricket Association, 44 per cent are from the province. Rubbing shoulders with seasoned first-class and Test cricketers from around the country will help them develop the requisite skills for this level.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), however, aims to have maximum representation from Balochistan within the next three to five years by developing a strong grassroots structure through the new Cricket Association and City Cricket Association structure.
Rashid Latif said: “We took the performances of the past three years, across all formats, into consideration when we sat down to have a look at these teams. We preferred players in early 20s who have shown improvement into consideration and those who have gotten a bit old and have had their performances go downhill were let go – which was a tough decision.
“There might be questions on why there are only four local players in the First XI and ten in the Second XI teams from the Balochistan Cricket Association. The purpose behind making the call is to groom these players. At the moment, there are 44 per cent native players in the side. Nadeem Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and I have recommended the PCB to have 90 per cent local players in the Balochistan sides, by developing the game there and providing them the identity.
“We have focused on the emerging U19 players, who often get left out, after noticing their performances and have selected leg-spinners because there’s a dearth of bowlers who can execute that skill. We have to start searching for the replacements of Yasir Shah and Shadab Khan from today.
“We have given the role of mentor to three players namely Zulfiqar Babar, Aizaz Cheema and Mohammad Sami. We spoke to these guys and from the next season they will adopt a new career. They will play in the Second XI and mentor the players.”
Squads:
BALOCHISTAN
First XI – Imran Farhat (vice-captain) (Lahore), Abu Bakar (Faisalabad), Ali Shafiq (Sialkot), Ammad Butt (Sialkot), Asif Zakir (Karachi), Azeem Ghumman (Hyderabad), Bismillah Khan (wicketkeeper) (Quetta), Hussain Talat (Lahore), Imran Butt (Lahore), Khurram Shehzad (Faisalabad), Mohammad Asghar (Quetta), Shahbaz Khan (Quetta), Shahzaib Ahmed Khan (Karachi), Taimur Khan (Quetta), Taj Wali (Peshawar) and Umar Gul (Abbottabad).
Second XI – Akbar-ur-Rehman (captain) (Karachi), Akhtar Shah (Quetta), Atif Jabbar (Sialkot), Awais Zia (Rawalpindi), Dawood Khan (Quetta), Fahad Iqbal (Karachi), Gohar Faiz (Quetta), Gulraiz Sadaf (wicketkeeper) (Multan), Haseeb Azam (Rawalpindi), Jalat Khan (Quetta), Mohammad Junaid (Quetta), Nazar Hussain (Quetta), Rameez Raja (Quetta), Shehzad Tareen (Quetta), Taimur Ali (Quetta) and Usama Razzaq (Quetta).
White ball specialists – Akif Javed (Kohat), Ibtisam Sheikh (Hyderabad) and Mohammad Talha (Faisalabad).
PCB central contract players – Haris Sohail (captain) (Sialkot), Imam-ul-Haq (Lahore) and Yasir Shah (Swabi).
CENTRAL PUNJAB
First XI – Ahmed Shehzad (vice-captain) (Lahore), Ahmed Bashir (Lahore), Ali Shan (Faisalabad), Bilal Asif (Sialkot), Ehsan Adil (Faisalabad), Fahim Ashraf (Faisalabad), Kamran Akmal (wicketkeeper) (Lahore), Mohammad Saad (Lahore), Nasim Shah (Lahore), Rizwan Hussain (Lahore), Saad Naseem (Lahore), Salman Butt (Lahore), Umar Akmal (Lahore), Usman Salahuddin (Lahore), Waqas Maqsood (Faisalabad) and Zafar Gohar (Lahore).
Second XI – Ali Waqas (captain) (Faisalabad), Abdullah Shafiq (Sialkot), Ahmed Safi Abdullah (Faisalabad), Aizaz Cheema (mentor) (Lahore), Ali Zaryab (Lahore), Asad Raza (Faisalabad), Atiq-ur-Rehman (Faisalabad), Ayaz Tasawar (Sialkot), Bilawal Iqbal (Lahore), Farhan Khan (wicketkeeper) (Lahore), Irfan Niazi (Faisalabad), Mohammad Akhlaq (Lahore), Mohammad Ali (Sialkot), Raza Ali Dar (Lahore), Suleman Shafqat (Faisalabad) and Zahid Mansoor (Rawalpindi).
White ball specialists – Nasir Nawaz (Rawalpindi), Nauman Anwar (Sialkot) and Usman Qadir (subject to availability) (Lahore).
PCB central contract players – Babar Azam (captain) (Lahore), Azhar Ali (Lahore) and Hassan Ali (Lahore).
KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA
First XI – Sahibzada Farhan (vice-captain) (Peshawar), Adil Amin (Peshawar), Ashfaq Ahmed (Peshawar), Iftikhar Ahmed (Peshawar), Imran Khan Sr (Peshawar), Irfan Khan (FATA), Israrullah (Peshawar), Junaid Khan (Abbottabad), Kamran Ghulam (Abbottabad), Mohammad Ilyas (Peshawar), Musaddiq Ahmed (Peshawar), Nabi Gul (Peshawar), Rehan Afridi (wicketkeeper) (FATA), Sameen Gul (FATA), Umar Khan (FATA) and Zohaib Khan (Peshawar).
Second XI – Khushdil Shah (captain) (FATA), Ahmed Jamal (Abbottabad), Akbar Badshah (Peshawar), Arshad Iqbal (Abbottabad), Asad Afridi (FATA), Asif Afridi (FATA), Atizaz Habib Khan (Abbottabad), Azizullah (Peshawar), Gohar Ali (wicketkeeper) (Peshawar), Irfanullah Shah (FATA), Khalid Usman (Abbottabad), Mehran Ibrahim (Peshawar), Mohammad Mohsin Khan (Charsadda), Mohammad Naeem (FATA), Sajid Khan (Peshawar) and Samiullah Jr (FATA).
White ball specialists – Imran Khan Jr (Peshawar), Mohammad Arif (Abbottabad) and Mohammad Mohsin (Swat).
PCB central contract players – Mohammad Rizwan (captain) (Peshawar), Fakhar Zaman (Mardan) and Usman Khan Shinwari (Peshawar).
NORTHERN
First XI – Umar Amin (vice-captain) (Rawalpindi), Afaq Raheem (AJK), Ali Asad (Karachi), Ali Sarfraz (Islamabad), Asif Ali (Faisalabad), Haider Ali (Rawalpindi), Hammad Azam (Rawalpindi), Haris Rauf (Islamabad), Mohammad Nawaz (Rawalpindi), Musa Khan (Islamabad), Nauman Ali (Hyderabad), Rohail Nazir (wicketkeeper) (Islamabad), Sadaf Hussain (Rawalpindi), Sohail Tanvir (Rawalpindi), Umar Waheed (Rawalpindi) and Waqas Ahmed (Sialkot).
Second XI – Faizan Riaz (captain) (Islamabad), Ali Imran (Islamabad), Hasan Raza (AJK), Jamal Anwar (wicketkeeper) (Rawalpindi), Naved Malik (Rawalpindi), Raza Hasan (Sialkot), Salman Irshad (AJK), Sarmad Bhatti (Islamabad), Shadab Majeed (AJK), Shehzad Azam (Islamabad), Shoaib Ahmed Minhas (Rawalpindi), Syed Tauseeq Shah (Rawalpindi), Umair Khan (Islamabad), Umair Masood (wicketkeeper) (Rawalpindi), Usama Mir (Sialkot) and Zeeshan Malik (Rawalpindi).
White ball specialists – Mohammad Amir (Rawalpindi), Sohail Akhtar (Abbottabad) and Zaid Alam (Lahore).
PCB central contract players – Imad Wasim (captain) (Islamabad), Shadab Khan (Rawalpindi) and Shaheen Shah (FATA).
SINDH
First XI – Anwar Ali (Karachi), Fawad Alam (Karachi), Hasan Mohsin (Karachi), Kashif Bhatti (Hyderabad), Khurram Manzoor (Karachi), Mir Hamza (Karachi), Mohammad Hasan (wicketkeeper) (Karachi), Mohammad Hasnain (Hyderabad), Omair Bin Yousuf (Karachi), Rameez Aziz (Karachi), Saad Ali (Karachi), Saud Shakeel (Karachi), Shehzar Mohammad (Karachi), Sohail Khan (Karachi) Tabish Khan (Karachi) and Waleed Ahmed (Karachi).
Second XI – Mohammad Sami (captain and mentor) (Karachi), Rameez Raja Jr (vice-captain) (Karachi), Adeel Malik (Karachi), Ahsan Ali (Karachi), Ammad Alam (Karachi), Ashiq Ali (Karachi), Ashir Qureshi (Karachi), Danish Aziz (Karachi), Ghulam Muddasar (Karachi), Hassan Khan (Karachi), Jahid Ali (Karachi), Mohammad Suleman (Hyderabad), Mohammad Waqas (Hyderabad), Rumman Raees (Karachi), Saad Khan (Hyderabad) and Saifullah Bangash (wicketkeeper) (Karachi).
White ball specialists – Abrar Ahmed (Karachi), Ahsan Jamil Mirza (Karachi), Shahnawaz Dahani (Larkana).
PCB central contract players – Sarfaraz Ahmad (captain) (Karachi), Asad Shafiq (vice-captain) (Karachi) and Abid Ali (Lahore).
SOUTHERN PUNJAB
First XI – Sami Aslam (vice-captain) (Karachi), Abdul Rehman Muzammil (Multan), Adnan Akmal (wicketkeeper) (Lahore), Amir Yamin (Multan), Bilawal Bhatti (Sialkot), Imran Rafiq (Multan), M. Irfan (SLA) (Lahore), M. Irfan Sr (LFM) (Multan), Mohammad Hafeez (Lahore), Rahat Ali (Multan), Saif Badar (Sialkot), Sohaib Maqsood (Multan), Umaid Asif (Sialkot), Umar Siddiq (Lahore), Zahid Mehmood (Hyderabad) and Zain Abbas (Multan).
Second XI – Naved Yasin (captain) (Multan), Salman Ali Agha (vice-captain) (Lahore), Ali Usman (Bahawalpur), Anas Mustafa (Lahore), Ataullah (Bahawalpur), Maqbool Ahmed (wicketkeeper), (Multan) Mohammad Ali Khan (Multan), Mohammad Basit (Multan), Mohammad Imran (Bahawalpur), Mohammad Irfan Jr (Nankana Sahib), Mohammad Mohsin (Lahore), Mohammad Umair (Bahawalpur), Mukhtar Ahmed (Sialkot), Zeeshan Ashraf (Okara), Zia-ul-Haq (Vehari) and Zulfiqar Babar (mentor) (Multan).
White ball specialists – Ali Khan (Sialkot), Shoaib Malik (Sialkot) and Sadaif Mehdi (Multan).
PCB central contract players – Shan Masood (captain) (Karachi), Mohammad Abbas (Sialkot) and Wahab Riaz (Lahore)
Coaching Staff:
BALOCHISTAN
First XI – Altaf Jaffery (Manager), Arshad Khan (Head Coach) and Shoaib Khan (Assistant Coach)
Second XI – Raj Hans (Manager cum Head Coach) and Aslam Sheikh (Assistant Coach)
SINDH
First XI – Rashid Khan (Manager), Azam Khan (Head Coach) and Umar Rasheed (Assistant Coach)
Second XI – Tauseef Ahmed (Manager cum Head Coach) and Shaukat Mirza (Assistant Coach)
Southern Punjab
First XI – Shahid Butt (Manager), Abdul Rehman (Head Coach) and Zahoor Elahi (Assistant Coach)
Second XI – Sajjad Akbar (Manager cum Head Coach) and Javed Hayat (Assistant Coach)
Central Punjab
First XI – Khalid Niazi (Manager), Ijaz Ahmed Jr. (Head Coach) and Samiullah Khan Niazi (Assistant Coach)
Second XI – Naveed Anjum (Manager cum Head Coach) and Akram Raza (Assistant Coach)
Northern
First XI – Shakeel Ahmed (Manager), Muhammad Wasim (Head Coach) and Manzoor Elahi (Assistant Coach)
Second XI – Tahir Mahmood (Manager cum Head Coach) and Saeed Anwar Jr. (Assistant Coach)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
First XI – Farrukh Zaman (Manager), Kabir Khan (Head Coach) and Wasim Haider (Assistant Coach)
Second XI – Riffatullah Mohmand (Manager cum Head Coach) and Sajid Shah (Assistant Coach)
