Champions one day cup: Squads and captains announced

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the provisional squads for the five teams participating in the Champions One Day Cup, scheduled to take place from September 12 to 29 in Faisalabad. The captains have been appointed by the team mentors: Misbah-ul-Haq (Wolves), Saqlain Mushtaq (Panthers), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Dolphins), Shoaib Malik (Stallions), and Waqar Younis (Lions).

Test vice-captain Saud Shakeel will lead the Dolphins, Shaheen Shah Afridi will captain the Lions, Shadab Khan will lead the Panthers, Mohammad Haris will captain the Stallions, and Mohammad Rizwan will lead the Wolves.

Format and Schedule:

The tournament, featuring the country’s top cricketers, will be a 50-over competition played in a single-league format. All matches will begin at 3:00 PM, except for the Lions vs. Panthers match on September 16, which will start at 9:30 AM. The tournament will conclude with three playoff matches in four days, ending with the final on Sunday, September 29.

The opening match will see Misbah-ul-Haq’s Wolves face Saqlain Mushtaq’s Panthers.

The PCB has also announced the provisional squads of all five teams. The squads were selected by the mentors from a pool of 150 players through a draft process, after fitness tests conducted by the PCB.

Of the 150 players, 125 were those who had performed well in the past three domestic seasons, while the remaining 25 were wildcard picks, selected based on their experience and performances for Pakistan, Pakistan Shaheens, or Pakistan U-19 over the past three seasons.

Central Contracted Players:

Each team includes centrally contracted players:

Dolphins:Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf, and Sarfaraz Ahmed

Lions: Abdullah Shafique, Aamer Jamal, Imam-ul-Haq, and Shaheen Shah Afridi

Panthers: Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, and Usama Mir

Stallions: Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir, and Zaman Khan

Wolves:Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, and Shahnawaz Dahani

Central contracted players who are not part of the squads include Mohammad Nawaz (personal reasons), Imad Wasim (unavailable), Arshad Iqbal, Hasan Ali, Ehsanullah, and Mohammad Wasim Jr. (recovering from injuries).

Apart from Imad Wasim, who is currently playing in the CPL, the following players have made themselves unavailable for the Faisalabad tournament:

Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Abbas, and Umar Akmal (playing county cricket), while Azam Khan, Haris Sohail, and Mohammad Amir are participating in the CPL. Fakhar Zaman, who is also playing in the CPL, will return by September 10.

Dolphins Squad:

– Saud Shakeel (captain, Karachi)

– Aftab Ibrahim (Karachi)

– Asif Ali (Faisalabad)

– Owais Ali (Gujranwala)

– Faheem Ashraf (Kasur)

– Kashif Ali (Rawalpindi)

– Mir Hamza (Karachi)

– Mohammad Harira (Sialkot)

– Mohammad Abbas Afridi (Peshawar)

– Mohammad Ikhlaq (Kamoki)

– Mohammad Ghazi Ghori (Karachi)

– Mohammad Riazullah (Peshawar)

– Nauman Ali (Hyderabad)

– Qasim Akram (Lahore)

– Sameen Gul (Jamrud)

– Sarfaraz Ahmed (Karachi)

– Sahibzada Farhan (Peshawar)

– Sufiyan Muqeem (Kotli)

– Umar Amin (Rawalpindi)

– Usman Qadir (Lahore)

Mentor: Sarfaraz Ahmed

Lions Squad:

– Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain, Peshawar)

– Abdullah Shafique (Sialkot)

– Aamer Jamal (Islamabad)

– Aamer Yamin (Multan)

– Faisal Akram (Multan)

– Hasan Nawaz (Islamabad)

– Haneen Shah (Lahore)

– Imam-ul-Haq (Lahore)

– Imran Butt (Lahore)

– Khushdil Shah (Bannu)

– Mohammad Asghar (Karachi)

– Mohammad Irfan Khan (Mianwali)

– Mohammad Taha (Karachi)

– Umair Bin Yousuf (Karachi)

– Rohail Nazir (Islamabad)

– Shehab Khan (Mardan)

– Shahroon Siraj (Sahiwal)

– Sirajuddin (Bajaur)

– Waqar Hussain (Okara)

Mentor: Waqar Younis

Panthers Squad:

– Shadab Khan (captain, Islamabad)

– Abdul Wahid Bangalzai (Quetta)

– Ahmad Bashir (Lahore)

– Ali Asfand (Faisalabad)

– Ali Raza (Sheikhupura)

– Amad Butt (Sialkot)

– Arafat Minhas (Multan)

– Aazan Owais (Sialkot)

– Haider Ali (Attock)

– Mohammad Hasnain (Hyderabad)

– Mohammad Umar (Karachi)

– Mohammad Zeeshan (Faisalabad)

– Mubasir Khan (Rawalpindi)

– Rehan Afridi (Khyber)

– Rizwan Mehmood (Hyderabad)

– Saim Ayub (Karachi)

– Umar Siddiq (Lahore)

– Usama Mir (Sialkot)

– Usman Khan (Karachi)

– Usman Salahuddin (Lahore)

Mentor: Saqlain Mushtaq

Stallions Squad:

– Mohammad Haris (captain, Peshawar)

– Abrar Ahmed (Karachi)

– Adil Amin (Peshawar)

– Azam Khan (Peshawar)

– Babar Azam (Lahore)

– Haris Rauf (Islamabad)

– Hussain Talat (Lahore)

– Jehanzeb Khan (Rawalpindi)

– Junaid Ali (Lahore)

– Moazzam Ahmed Sadaqat (Peshawar)

– Mehran Mumtaz (Rawalpindi)

– Mohammad Ali (Sialkot)

– Mohammad Amir Khan (Swat)

– Saad Khan (Hyderabad)

– Shamil Hussain (Islamabad)

– Shan Masood (Karachi)

– Tayyab Tahir (Sarai Alamgir)

– Ubaid Shah (Lahore)

– Yasir Khan (Rawalpindi)

– Zaman Khan (Mirpur)

Mentor: Shoaib Malik

Wolves Squad:

– Mohammad Rizwan (captain, Peshawar)

– Fakhar Zaman (Abbottabad)

– Abdul Samad (Faisalabad)

– Akif Javed (FATA)

– Ali Usman (Multan)

– Bilawal Bhatti (Muridke)

– Haseebullah (Pishin)

– Iftikhar Ahmed (Peshawar)

– Kamran Ghulam (Peshawar)

– Mohammad Faizan (Faisalabad)

– Mohammad Imran Junior (Peshawar)

– Mohammad Sarwar Afridi (FATA)

– Mohammad Imran (Khanewal)

– Naseem Shah (Lahore)

– Nisar Ahmed (Lahore)

– Salman Ali Agha (Lahore)

– Shahnawaz Dahani (Larkana)

– Zahid Mahmood (Dadu)

– Zain Abbas (Multan)

Mentor: Misbah-ul-Haq