PCB to organise festival match in Muzaffarabad

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will organise a festival match in Muzaffarabad on Friday, September 6, which also marks the 54th Defence Day of Pakistan, for the promotion and development of the game.

According to the press release by the PCB, Muzaffarabad Cricket Stadium has been selected as a venue for the season-opener after it was named as one of the centres to stage the 2019-20 domestic cricket matches. According to the schedule announced on Monday, Muzaffarabad is one of the stages for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Second XI matches.

The September 6 match between PCB Chairman’s XI and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister’s XI will be a T20 fixture, which will begin at 10am. The match will see local players in action along with international stars, namely: Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Bilal Asif, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Rahat Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shan Masood and Usman Shinwari.

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Former captain Misbah-ul-Haq and parliamentarian Ali Amin Gandapur will also be in action.

The PCB Chairman’s XI will be led by Sarfaraz Ahmed and will include local cricketers such as Babar Khaliq, Fizan Saleem, Moin Pervez, Saqlain Gillani, Shadab Majeed and Usman Mahroof.

The AJK Prime Minister’s XI will be captained by Azhar Ali, and the local players to feature are Aqib Liaqat, Hassan Raza, Naveed Malik and Raja Farhan.

The match is expected to attract new audiences and young cricketers, and also support the PCB’s aspirations and efforts to take cricket to every nook and corner of the country. In this relation, the PCB has already scheduled four Quaid-e-Azam Trophy first-class matches in Quetta’s Bugti Stadium to rejuvenate local fans, followers and cricketers.

The two squads are:

PCB Chairman’s XI – Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain), Abid Ali, Babar Khaliq, Bilal Asif, Fizan Saleem, Babar Azam, Misbah-ul-Haq, Moin Perveiz, Saqlain Gillani, Shadab Majeed, Shan Masood, Usman Mahroof and Usman Shinwari

AKJ Prime Minister’s XI – Azhar Ali (captain), Ali Amin Gandapur, Asad Shafiq, Aqib Liaqat, Hassan Raza, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan, Naveed Malik, Rahat Ali, Raja Farhan and Zafar Gohar