Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif believes that there is a bright future for cricket in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), considering the amount of young talent coming through the region.

While talking to media during a talent hunt program, for under-17 cricketers, in Peshawar, Latif appreciated the efforts put in by young players.

“In the future, most of the cricketers in the national team would have KP players as they are quite talented and can make it big on the international stage,” said Latif.

He added: “Various leading players of the national team were from this part of the country and we are still proud of them. This includes Younis Khan, Junaid Khan, Yasir Shah, Yasir Hameed, and those who brought them into limelight such as Kabir Khan, Wajahatullah Wasti and Arshad Khan.”

Chairman of National Selection Committee, Inzamamul Haq, was also present on this occasion. He said that the best young players will be provided proper training and contracts in order to help them excel at the highest level.  

“We have shortlisted six thousand young players from the far-flung areas of the province,” said Inzamam. “Out of these, the outstanding players will be given two-year contracts and would be provided international level coaching in the grounds.”

The former Pakistan captain also defended Pakistan team performance in the ODI series against Australia and believed that the Men in Green have a suitable combination, ahead of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup 2019.

“Pakistan deserved to win the last two matches of the ODI series,” he said. “We have prepared a suitable team for competing in World Cup matches, while in this series many players were rested or injured.”