PCB chairman Mohsin NAQVI (Photo source : X / Twitter )
The first edition of the Champions One-Day Cup, a List-A cricket tournament in Pakistan, is set to commence on Thursday, September 12. Five teams – the Wolves, Panthers, Dolphins, Stallions, and Lions – will be competing for top honours in the 50-over competition.
Pakistan’s premier cricketers are set to be in action as no international fixtures are coinding with the tournament. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the captains and provisional squads for the five teams on Friday, September 6. The captains have been appointed by the mentors – Misbah-ul-Haq (Wolves), Saqlain Mushtaq (Panthers), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Dolphins), Shoaib Malik (Stallions) and Waqar Younis (Lions).
Star wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan will be leading the Wolves, while former white-ball vice-captain Shadab Khan will be spearheading the Panthers. Current deputy to Shan Masood in the Test team, Saud Shakeel, has been named as the captain of the Dolphins. Meanwhile, former T20 captain Shaheen Afridi and Pakistan A skipper Mohammad Haris will be in charge of Lions and Stallions, respectively.
The teams will play each other once in a single-league format before heading into the business end of the tournament, where three playoff matches will decide the finalists. The title clash is set to be played on September 29. All the games will be held in Faisalabad.
Each team includes existing centrally contracted players. These are:
Dolphins: Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf and Sarfaraz Ahmed
Lions: Abdullah Shafique, Aamir Jamal, Imam-ul-Haq and Shaheen Shah Afridi
Panthers: Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan and Usama Mir
Stallions: Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir and Zaman Khan
Wolves: Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha and Shahnawaz Dahani
Meanwhile, centrally contracted players who are not part of the squads include Mohammad Nawaz (personal reasons), Arshad Iqbal, Hasan Ali, Ihsanullah and Mohammad Wasim Jnr (undergoing rehabilitation).
Here’s a look at provisional squads for Champions One-Day Cup 2024:
DOLPHINS: Saud Shakeel (captain, Karachi), Aftab Ibrahim (Karachi), Asif Ali (Faisalabad), Awais Ali (Gujranwala), Faheem Ashraf (Kasur), Kashif Ali (Rawalpindi), Mir Hamza (Karachi), Mohammad Huraira (Sialkot), Mohammad Abbas Afridi (Peshawar), Muhammad Akhlaq (Kamoki), Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (Karachi), Muhammad Riazullah (Peshawar), Noman Ali (Hyderabad), Qasim Akram (Lahore), Sameen Gul (Jamrud), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Karachi), Sahibzada Farhan (Peshawar), Sufiyan Moqim (Kotli), Umar Amin (Rawalpindi) and Usman Qadir (Lahore)
Mentor – Sarfaraz Ahmed
LIONS: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain, Peshawar), Abdullah Shafique (Sialkot), Aamir Jamal (Islamabad), Aamer Yamin (Multan), Faisal Akram (Multan), Hassan Nawaz (Islamabad), Hunain Shah (Lahore), Imam-ul-Haq (Lahore), Imran Butt (Lahore), Khushdil Shah (Bannu), Mohammad Asghar (Karachi), Muhammad Irfan Khan (Mianwali), Mohammad Taha (Karachi), Omair Bin Yousuf (Karachi), Rohail Nazir (Islamabad), Shahab Khan (Mardan), Sharoon Siraj (Sahiwal), Sirajuddin (Bajaur) and Waqar Hussain (Okara)
Mentor – Waqar Younis
PANTHERS: Shadab Khan (captain, Islamabad), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai (Quetta), Ahmed Bashir (Lahore), Ali Asfand (Faisalabad), Ali Raza (Sheikhupura), Amad Butt (Sialkot), Arafat Minhas (Multan), Azan Awais (Sialkot), Haider Ali (Attock), Mohammad Hasnain (Hyderabad), Mohammad Umar (Karachi), Mohammad Zeeshan (Faisalabad), Mubasir Khan (Rawalpindi), Rehan Afridi (Khyber), Rizwan Mehmood (Hyderabad), Saim Ayub (Karachi), Umar Siddiq (Lahore), Usama Mir (Sialkot), Usman Khan (Karachi) and Usman Salahuddin (Lahore)
Mentor – Saqlain Mushtaq
STALLIONS: Mohammad Haris (captain, Peshawar), Abrar Ahmed (Karachi), Adil Amin (Peshawar), Azam Khan (Peshawar), Babar Azam (Lahore), Haris Rauf (Islamabad), Hussain Talat (Lahore), Jahandad Khan (Rawalpindi), Junaid Ali (Lahore), Maaz Ahmad Sadaqat (Peshawar), Mehran Mumtaz (Rawalpindi), Mohammad Ali (Sialkot), Mohammad Amir Khan (Swat), Saad Khan (Hyderabad), Shamyl Hussain (Islamabad), Shan Masood (Karachi), Tayyab Tahir (Sarai Alamgir), Ubaid Shah (Lahore), Yasir Khan (Rawalpindi) and Zaman Khan (Mirpur)
Mentor – Shoaib Malik
WOLVES: Mohammad Rizwan (captain, Peshawar), Fakhar Zaman (Abbottabad), Abdul Samad (Faisalabad), Akif Javed (FATA), Ali Usman (Multan), Bilawal Bhatti (Muridke), Haseebullah (Pishin), Iftikhar Ahmed (Peshawar), Kamran Ghulam (Peshawar), Mohammad Faizan (Faisalabad), Mohammad Imran Jnr (Peshawar), Mohammad Sarwar Afridi (FATA), Muhammad Imran (Khanewal), Naseem Shah (Lahore), Nisar Ahmed (Lahore), Salman Ali Agha (Lahore), Shahnawaz Dahani (Larkana), Zahid Mehmood (Dadu) and Zain Abbas (Multan)
Mentor – Misbah-ul-Haq
Also Read: Pakistan will win the Test series against England if Mohammad Rizwan is made the captain: Basit Ali
The provisional squads will be pruned down to 15 players each on Tuesday, September 10. The Wolves are set to lock horns with the Panthers in the curtain raiser on September 12.