Lahore : The Pakistan Cricket Board announced the captains of the five Champions One-Day Cup teams, as well as provisional squads for the tournament, which will be held in Faisalabad from 12-29 September. The captains were appointed by the five team mentors: Misbah-ul-Haq (Wolves), Saqlain Mushtaq (Panthers), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Dolphins), Shoaib Malik (Stallions) and Waqar Younis (Lions).
Pakistan’s Test vice-captain Saud Shakeel has been appointed captain of the Dolphins, former Pakistan T20I captain Shaheen Shah Afridi will lead the Lions and the Panthers will be skippered by former white-ball vice-captain, Shadab Khan. Pakistan Shaheens’ captain Mohammad Haris will lead the Stallions, while ex-all-format vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan will captain the Wolves.
The Champions One-Day Cup will feature the country’s top cricketers. This 50-over tournament will be played in a single-league format. All matches will commence at 3pm, except for the Lions vs Panthers match on 16 September, which will start at 9:30am. The tournament will conclude with three playoff matches over four days, culminating in the final on Sunday, 29 September.
Misbah-ul-Haq’s Wolves will face Saqlain Mushtaq’s Panthers in the opening match on 12 September.
The PCB has also announced provisional squads for the five teams. These were selected by the team mentors through a draft process from a pool of 150 players, which was provided by the PCB following fitness tests—one of the primary selection criteria for domestic contracted players. The centrally contracted players will undergo fitness tests in Faisalabad on 7 and 9 September.
Out of the 150 players, 125 were leading performers from the past three domestic seasons. The remaining 25 players were wildcards, selected based on their experience and performances for Pakistan, Pakistan Shaheens and Pakistan Under-19 teams over the last three years.
Each team includes existing centrally contracted players. These are:
Dolphins: Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf and Sarfaraz Ahmed
Lions: Abdullah Shafique, Aamir 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
Centrally contracted players who are not part of the squads include Mohammad Nawaz (personal reasons), Imad Wasim (unavailable), Arshad Iqbal, Hasan Ali, Ihsanullah and Mohammad Wasim Jnr (undergoing rehabilitation).
In addition to Imad Wasim, who is currently playing in the CPL, the following players have made themselves unavailable for the Faisalabad tournament: Ahmed Shehzad, Azam Khan (CPL), Haris Sohail, Mohammad Amir (CPL), Mohammad Abbas (County cricket in the UK), Mohammad Ilyas and Umar Akmal. Fakhar Zaman, who is also playing in the CPL, is due to return on 10 September.
