The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the captains and provisional squads for the five teams participating in the Champions One-Day Cup. The tournament will be held in Faisalabad from 12-29 September. The team mentors, Misbah-ul-Haq (Wolves), Saqlain Mushtaq (Panthers), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Dolphins), Shoaib Malik (Stallions), and Waqar Younis (Lions), selected the captains for their teams.
Saud Shakeel, Pakistan Test vice-captain, will lead the Dolphins. Former T20I captain Shaheen Shah Afridi will captain the Lions, while Shadab Khan, a former white-ball vice-captain, will lead the Panthers. Mohammad Haris, the Pakistan Shaheens’ captain, will head the Stallions, and former vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan will captain the Wolves.
The tournament will feature Pakistan's top cricketers in a 50-over format. All matches will start at 3 pm, except for the Lions vs Panthers game on 16 September, which will begin at 9:30 am. The tournament will conclude with playoffs and the final match on 29 September.
In the opening match on 12 September, Misbah-ul-Haq’s Wolves will play against Saqlain Mushtaq Panthers.
The PCB also revealed provisional squads, chosen through a draft from 150 players. These players were picked based on fitness tests, one of the main selection criteria. Among them, 125 players were top performers in the last three domestic seasons, and 25 were selected as wildcards due to their experience and past performances with Pakistan’s national and junior teams.
Centrally contracted players will have fitness tests in Faisalabad on 7 and 9 September.
The Champion Cup All Team Captains
Centrally contracted players not included in the squads are Mohammad Nawaz (personal reasons), Imad Wasim (unavailable), Arshad Iqbal, Hasan Ali, Ihsanullah, and Mohammad Wasim Jnr (all undergoing rehabilitation).
Besides Imad Wasim, who is currently playing in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the following players are also unavailable for the Faisalabad tournament: Ahmed Shehzad, Azam Khan (CPL), Haris Sohail, Mohammad Amir (CPL), Mohammad Abbas (playing county cricket in the UK), Mohammad Ilyas, and Umar Akmal. Fakhar Zaman, also in the CPL, is expected to return by 10 September.
Other players currently undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy include Ahsan Ali, Athar Mahmood, Rizwan Hussain, and Zeeshan Zamir, along with Arshad Iqbal, Hasan Ali, Ihsanullah, and Mohammad Wasim Jnr.
Nine domestic contracted players were left out of the Champions One-Day Cup squads after failing fitness tests. These players are Ali Shafique, Ali Zaryab, Arif Yaqoob, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Rameez Jnr, Saad Baig, Rameez Aziz, Sharjeel Khan, and Shawaiz Irfan.
Champion Cup all team squad
| DOLPHINS SQUAD |
|---|
| Saud Shakeel (C), Aftab Ibrahim, Asif Ali, Awais Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Kashif Ali , Mir Hamza, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Muhammad Akhlaq, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Muhammad Riazullah, Noman Ali, Qasim Akram, Sameen Gul, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Sahibzada Farhan, Sufiyan Moqim, Umar Amin and Usman Qadir. |
| LIONS SQUAD |
|---|
| Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abdullah Shafique, Aamir Jamal, Aamer Yamin, Faisal Akram, Hassan Nawaz, Hunain Shah, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Butt, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Asghar, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Taha, Omair Bin Yousuf, Rohail Nazir, Shahab Khan, Sharoon Siraj, Sirajuddin, and Waqar Hussain. |
| PANTHERS SQUAD |
|---|
| Shadab Khan (captain), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Ahmed Bashir, Ali Asfand, Ali Raza, Amad Butt, Arafat Minhas, Azan Awais, Haider Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Umar, Mohammad Zeeshan, Mubasir Khan, Rehan Afridi, Rizwan Mehmood, Saim Ayub, Umar Siddiq, Usama Mir, Usman Khan, and Usman Salahuddin. |
| STALLIONS SQUAD |
|---|
Mohammad Haris (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Adil Amin, Azam Khan, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Hussain Talat, Jahandad Khan, Junaid Ali, Maaz Ahmad Sadaqat, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Amir Khan, Saad Khan, Shamyl Hussain, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir, Ubaid Shah, Yasir Khan, and Zaman Khan.
|
| WOLVES SQUAD |
|---|
| Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Abdul Samad, Akif Javed, Ali Usman, Bilawal Bhatti, Haseebullah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Faizan, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Mohammad Sarwar Afridi, Muhammad Imran, Naseem Shah, Nisar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zahid Mehmood, and Zain Abbas. |
The Champion Cup Schedule |
| Date | Match |
|---|
| 12 Sep | Wolves v Panthers |
| 13 Sep | Stallions v Lions |
| 14 Sep | Dolphins v Panthers |
| 15 Sep | Wolves v Stallions |
| 16 Sep | Lions v Panthers |
| 17 Sep | Dolphins v Wolves |
| 19 Sep | Stallions v Dolphins |
| 20 Sep | Lions v Wolves |
| 21 Sep | Panthers v Stallions |
| 22 Sep | Dolphins v Lions |
| 24 Sep | Qualifier (Team No.1 v Team No. 2) |
| 25 Sep | Eliminator 1 (Team No.3 v Team No.4) |
| 27 Sep | Eliminator 2 (Losing Qualifier v Winning Eliminator 2) |
| 29 Sep | Final |
0 Comments