KP look to defend their title as Pakistan Cup commences today

Pakistan Cup is set to begin from today in four different cities; Faisalabad, Islamabad, Lahore and Multan.

Following the conclusion of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL), Pakistan Cup will provide ample opportunity to the young cricketers to showcase their skills featuring alongside prominent cricketers such as Yasir Shah, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Shadab Khan.

Top-performers from Pakistan Cup might even stand a chance to feature in Pakistan's white-ball series against Australia.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has already confirmed the 16-member squad of the six Cricket Associations teams for the final tournament of the domestic season 2021-22.

Starting from today, the tournament is being held on a double-league basis where Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will look to defend their title.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be led by Iftikhar Ahmed while Raza Ali Dar will lead Central Punjab. International icons Shadab Khan and Yasir Shah will be captaining Northern and Balochistan respectively. Lastly, talented Mir Hamza and Salman Ali Agha have been assigned skipper duties for Sindh and Southern Punjab respectively.

The tournament carries nearly Rs. 10 million in prize money. The tournament winners will bag Rs. 5 million, while the runners-up will receive Rs. 2.5 million.

Squads

Balochistan: Yasir Shah (c), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Akif Javed, Ammad Butt, Asad Shafiq, Ayaz Tasawar, Azeem Ghumman, Bismillah Khan (wk), Haseebullah Khan (wk), Imran Butt, Jalat Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Saad, Mohammad Shahid and Taj Wali.

Central Punjab: Raza Ali Dar (c), Ahmed Shahzad, Awais Ali, Hussain Talat, Imran Dogar, Muhammad Akhlaq (wk), Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Irfan Jnr., Nisar Ahmed, Qasim Akram, Rizwan Hussain, Saad Nasim, Umar Akmal, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz and Zafar Gohar.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Iftikhar Ahmed (c), Aamer Azmat, Adil Amin, Arshad Iqbal, Asif Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Imran Khan Jnr., Imran Khan Snr, Irfanullah Shah, Khalid Usman, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Sarwar, Sahibzada Farhan, Sameen Gul, Waqar Ahmed and Wasim Jnr.

Northern: Shadab Khan (c), Aamir Jamal, Ali Imran, Asif Ali, Ather Mehmood, Haider Ali, Imad Wasim, Mehran Mumtaz, Mubasir Khan, Mohammad Huraira, Musa Khan, Nasir Nawaz, Rohail Nazir (WK), Salman Irshad, Umar Amin and Zaman Khan.

Sindh: Mir Hamza (c), Omair Bin Yousaf, Abrar Ahmed, Ahsan Ali, Ammad Alam, Asif Mehmood, Danish Aziz, Khurram Manzoor, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Hasan (wk), Mohammad Taha, Mohammad Umar, Saad Khan, Shahnawaz Dahani, Sharjeel Khan and Sohail Khan.

Southern Punjab: Salman Ali Agha (c), Aamir Yamin, Abbas Afridi, Ali Majid, Azam Khan (WK), Faisal Akram, Hassan Khan, Imran Randhawa, Khushdil Shah, Rahat Ali, Sharoon Siraj, Sohaib Maqsood, Tayyab Tahir, Zain Abbas, Zeeshan Ashraf (wk) and Zia-ul-Haq.