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Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday opened a loan window for the exchange of players in six regional teams that have not yet represented their parent sides in the ongoing National T20 Cup.
The move was aimed at giving those players, who have been warming benches so far, a chance to play and perform by representing other teams, as well as improve the balance of other sides.
In this regard, five players were loaned to three sides for the remaining 25 matches of the National T20 Cup matches. The temporary trades were made after deliberations between the head coaches of the six First XI Cricket Association teams.
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Here are the details of loaned players:
To Balochistan: Abdullah Shafique (from Central Punjab), Mohammad Mohsin (not in any squad), Sohail Akhtar (from Northern)
To Central Punjab: Sameen Gul (from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
To Southern Punjab: Usama Mir (not in any squad)
Balochistan, who are placed fifth in the six-team points table with one win, have strengthened their top-order with the inclusion of Abdullah Shafique and Sohail Akhtar.
Abdullah, 21, started his T20 career with a century in the 2020 edition of the National T20 and averages 39.90. The right-handed batsman has accumulated 399 runs at a strike rate of above 130. Sohail has one century and six half-centuries in the format and has made 1,571 runs, to date.
Balochistan’s decision to take leg-spinner Mohammad Mohsin onboard has come in the wake of an injury to Yasir Shah who has been ruled out of the tournament for at least the next 10 days.
Yasir sustained a hairline fracture in his right hand during his side’s victory against Southern Punjab on Sunday after he was hit by the ball.
Central Punjab have opted for 22-year-old Sameen Gul, who has snared 27 T20 wickets at 29.48 runs apiece to provide the youngster with an opportunity to display his skills and talent in front of the HD-broadcast cameras, which are beaming the National T20 action across the globe through traditional and new media.
Southern Punjab have added further enhanced their spin-bowling arsenal with the inclusion of leg-spinner Usama Mir, who is four shy of breaching the 50-T20-wicket milestone.
The process was overlooked by Muhammad Wasim, the national men’s chief selector, and High-Performance Director Nadeem Khan.
The National T20 will resume on Wednesday after a two-day gap with the top-ranked Sindh playing Balochistan and fourth-placed Northern taking on bottom-placed Southern Punjab.
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National T20 Cup squads [Updated]
Balochistan – Imam-ul-Haq (captain), Bismillah Khan (vice-captain and wicketkeeper), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Akbar-ur-Rehman, Akif Javed, Amad Butt, Ayaz Tasawar, Gohar Faiz, Haris Sohail, Jalat Khan, Junaid Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ibrahim Snr, Umaid Asif and Yasir Shah, Sohail Akhtar, Mohammad Mohsin, Abdullah Shafiq
Central Punjab – Babar Azam (captain), Hasan Ali (vice-captain), Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Ahmed Shehzad, Ehsan Adil, Faheem Ashraf, Hussain Talat, Kamran Akmal (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Akhlaq (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Hafeez, Qasim Akram, Saif Badar, Shoaib Malik, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz, Sameen Gul, and Waqas Maqsood
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Shaheen Shah Afridi (vice-captain), Adil Amin, Arshad Iqbal, Asif Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imran Khan Snr, Israrullah, Maaz Khan, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Imran Khan, Mohammad Wasim, Mussadiq Ahmed and Sahibzada Farhan
Northern – Shadab Khan (captain), Mohammad Nawaz (vice-captain), Rohail Nazir (wicketkeeper), Ali Imran, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Imad Wasim, Musa Khan, Nasir Nawaz, Salman Irshad, Sohail Tanvir, Umer Amin, Zaman Khan and Zeeshan Malik
Sindh – Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain and wicketkeeper), Anwar Ali (vice-captain), Abrar Ahmed, Ahsan Ali, Danish Aziz, Hassan Mohsin, Khurram Manzoor, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Taha, Ruman Raees, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood, Shahnawaz Dahani, Sharjeel Khan and Zahid Mahmood
Southern Punjab – Sohaib Maqsood (captain), Zeeshan Ashraf (vice-captain), Amir Yamin, Azam Khan (wicketkeeper), Dilbar Hussain, Faisal Akram, Hassan Khan, Imran Randhawa, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ilyas, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Umer Khan, Zain Abbas and Zia-ul-Haq, Usama Mir
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