Pakistan Champions One-Day Cup: PCB announces five captains and provisional squads, Babar Azam to play under Mohammad Haris

Pakistan Champions One-Day Cup will start on September 12.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the captains and provisional squads for the upcoming Champions One-Day Cup. The five-team tournament will be played from September 12 to 29. The five teams are named – Dolphins, Wolves, Panthers, Stallions and Lions.

Surprisingly, stalwart Pakistani cricketer Babar Azam is not one of the five skippers. He will play under the leadership of Mohammad Harris, who has been named captain of the Stallions. Test vice-captain Saud Shakeel will captain the Dolphins. Speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi has been appointed skipper of the Lions.

Panthers will be captained by Shadab Khan and wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan will lead the Wolves in the inaugural edition of the Champions-One-Day Cup.

All five teams’ captains have been appointed by their respective mentors – Misbah-ul-Haq (Wolves), Saqlain Mushtaq (Panthers), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Dolphins), Shoaib Malik (Stallions) and Waqar Younis (Lions).

The Champions One-Day Cup in Pakistan will see the country’s top cricketers feature in it. The PCB stated that the provisional squads were selected by respective team mentors through a draft process from a pool of 150 players.

The tournament will be played in a single-league format followed by three playoff matches to decide the finalists.

Each team includes existing centrally contracted players. They are:

• 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
• Dolphins: Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf and Sarfaraz Ahmed

Further, centrally contracted players who are not part of the competition are Mohammad Nawaz (personal reasons), Arshad Iqbal, Hasan Ali, Ihsanullah, and Mohammad Wasim Jnr (undergoing rehabilitation).

Provisional squads for all five teams in Pakistan’s Champions One-Day Cup 2024:

Dolphins: Saud Shakeel (captain, Karachi), Aftab Ibrahim (Karachi), Asif Ali (Faisalabad), Awais Ali (Gujranwala), Faheem Ashraf (Kasur), Kashif Ali (Rawalpindi), Mir Hamza (Karachi), Mohammad Huraira (Sialkot), Mohammad Abbas Afridi (Peshawar), Muhammad Akhlaq (Kamoki), Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (Karachi), Muhammad Riazullah (Peshawar), Noman Ali (Hyderabad), Qasim Akram (Lahore), Sameen Gul (Jamrud), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Karachi), Sahibzada Farhan (Peshawar), Sufiyan Moqim (Kotli), Umar Amin (Rawalpindi) and Usman Qadir (Lahore)

Mentor – Sarfaraz Ahmed

Lions: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain, Peshawar), Abdullah Shafique (Sialkot), Aamir Jamal (Islamabad), Aamer Yamin (Multan), Faisal Akram (Multan), Hassan Nawaz (Islamabad), Hunain Shah (Lahore), Imam-ul-Haq (Lahore), Imran Butt (Lahore), Khushdil Shah (Bannu), Mohammad Asghar (Karachi), Muhammad Irfan Khan (Mianwali), Mohammad Taha (Karachi), Omair Bin Yousuf (Karachi), Rohail Nazir (Islamabad), Shahab Khan (Mardan), Sharoon Siraj (Sahiwal), Sirajuddin (Bajaur) and Waqar Hussain (Okara)

Mentor – Waqar Younis

Panthers: Shadab Khan (captain, Islamabad), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai (Quetta), Ahmed Bashir (Lahore), Ali Asfand (Faisalabad), Ali Raza (Sheikhupura), Amad Butt (Sialkot), Arafat Minhas (Multan), Azan Awais (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) and Usman Salahuddin (Lahore)

Mentor – Saqlain Mushtaq

Stallons: Mohammad Haris (captain, Peshawar), Abrar Ahmed (Karachi), Adil Amin (Peshawar), Azam Khan (Peshawar), Babar Azam (Lahore), Haris Rauf (Islamabad), Hussain Talat (Lahore), Jahandad Khan (Rawalpindi), Junaid Ali (Lahore), Maaz Ahmad Sadaqat (Peshawar), Mehran Mumtaz (Rawalpindi), Mohammad Ali (Sialkot), Mohammad Amir Khan (Swat), Saad Khan (Hyderabad), Shamyl Hussain (Islamabad), Shan Masood (Karachi), Tayyab Tahir (Sarai Alamgir), Ubaid Shah (Lahore), Yasir Khan (Rawalpindi) and Zaman Khan (Mirpur)

Mentor – Shoaib Malik

Wolves: 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 Jnr (Peshawar), Mohammad Sarwar Afridi (FATA), Muhammad Imran (Khanewal), Naseem Shah (Lahore), Nisar Ahmed (Lahore), Salman Ali Agha (Lahore), Shahnawaz Dahani (Larkana), Zahid Mehmood (Dadu) and Zain Abbas (Multan)

Mentor – Misbah-ul-Haq

Note: Squads (to be reduced to 15 players on 10 September)

Champions One-Day Cup: Full Schedule

• 12 September – Wolves v Panthers
• 13 September – Stallions v Lions
• 14 September – Dolphins v Panthers
• 15 September – Wolves v Stallions
• 16 September – Lions v Panthers
• 17 September – Dolphins v Wolves
• 19 September – Stallions v Dolphins
• 20 September – Lions v Wolves
• 21 September – Panthers v Stallions
• 22 September – Dolphins v Lions
• 24 September – Qualifier (Team No.1 v Team No. 2)
• 25 September – Eliminator 1 (Team No.3 v Team No.4)
• 27 September – Eliminator 2 (Losing Qualifier v Winning Eliminator 2)
• 29 September – Final

Note: All matches will be played at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad

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