Middle-order batsman Umar Akmal, who is making a return to the cricket after serving a year-long ban following his alleged involvement in Spot Fixing, has been drafted in Central Punjab’s Second XI team for the upcoming Cricket Associations T20 Cup.
The head coaches of the six association teams finalised the Second XI teams for the tournament, which begins on 15 September at the Bugti Stadium in Quetta.
Defending champions Central Punjab, led by Saif Badar, will begin their campaign against Faraz Ali’s Sindh on the opening day of the tournament.
Jalat Khan will lead Balochistan, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Northern will be led by Zohaib Khan and Umar Masood, respectively. Southern Punjab will be captained by Umar Siddique.
Fifteen matches will be played across eight days in the single-league competition and the team which tops the table will be declared winners.
The six teams will undergo a Covid-19 rapid antigen test upon arrival on 11 September at a local hotel in Quetta.
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The squads and event schedule:
Balochistan 2nd XI – Jalat Khan (captain), Awais Zia, Abdul Hanan, Abdul Nasir, Aftab Ahmed, Fahad Hussain, Fahad Iqbal, Gohar Faiz, Gulraiz Sadaf (WK), Hidayat Ullah (WK), M. Ibrahim Snr, M.Junaid, Mohammad Shahid, Najeeb Ullah Achakzai, Syed Zainullah and Taj Wali
Central Punjab 2nd XI – Saif Badar (captain), Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Ali Shan, Asad Ali Jnr, Gohar Hafeez, Haseeb Ur Rehman, Junaid Ali, Kamran Afzal, M Faizan, M Irfan Jnr, Mudassar Riaz, Muhammad Imran Dogar, Muhammad Tabriaz Butt, Nisar Ahmed, Sohaib Ullah and Umar Akmal
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 2nd XI – Zohaib Khan (captain), Abbas Afridi, Ahmed Jamal, Aitizaz Habib, Amir Azmat, Maaz Khan, Mishal Khan, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Nabi Gul, Niaz Khan, Sajjad Ali, Saqib Jamil, Syed Arif Shah, Tahir Khan and Yasir Khan
Northern 2nd XI – Umair Masood (captain), Aamir Jamal, Ali Imran, Aqib Liaqat, Asad Raza, Ather Mehmood, Mubasir Khan, Munir Riaz, Nasir Nawaz, Raza Hassan, Sadaqat Ali, Salman Irshad, Sarmad Bhatti, Taimoor Sultan, Zaman Khan and Zeeshan Malik
Sindh 2nd XI – Faraz Ali (captain), Ammad Alam, Arish Ali Khan, Asif Mehmood, Ghulam Mudassir, Imtiaz Laghari, Jahanzaib Sultan, Mohammad Afzal (WK), Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Umar, Rameez Aziz, Saad Khan, Saim Ayub, Shahid Meerani, Umair bin Yousuf (VC) and Usman Khan
Southern Punjab 2nd XI – Umar Siddique (captain), Ahsan Baig, Ali Majid, Ali Shafique, Dilbar Hussain, Hassan Khan, Humayun Altaf, Kaleem Ullah, M Shahryar, M Sudais, Moinuddin, Mukhtar Ahmed, Shahroon Siraj, Tayyab Tahir, Umar Khan and Yousuf Babar
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Cricket Associations T20 schedule (all matches at Bugti Stadium in Quetta):
15 Sep – Balochistan v Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Central Punjab v Sindh
16 Sep – Northern v Southern Punjab; Balochistan v Sindh
17 Sep – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v Southern Punjab; Balochistan v Central Punjab
18 Sep – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v Sindh; Central Punjab v Southern Punjab
19 Sep – Northern v Sindh; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v Central Punjab
20 Sep – Balochistan v Northern; Sindh v Southern Punjab
21 Sep – Northern v Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; Balochistan v Southern Punjab
22 Sep – Northern v Central Punjab