National U16 Three-Day Tournament to commence from November 25
Abdullah Asjad
ISLAMABAD(24 November 2019):-The National U16 Three-Day Tournament 2019-20 is scheduled to be held from November 25 to 10 December in Faisalabad, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. A total of 90 players, finalised by the junior selection committee which is headed by Saleem Jaffar, will participate in the six-team competition.
The six teams have been divided into two pools. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Southern Punjab have been placed in Pool ‘A’, while Balochistan, Central Punjab and Northern have been placed in Pool ‘B’. All Pool ‘A’ matches will be placed at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium. Islamabad’s Shalimar Cricket Ground and KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi will host Pool ‘B’ fixtures. The final will be played from 8-10 December 2019; the venue will be announced in due course.
Each team will play two three-day matches at group-stage and the top two teams from both groups will play the final. PCB Senior GM - Academies, Ali Zia, said: “The U16 programme was initiated in the year 2007-08 from the district level. With the passage of time, and due to its huge success, the programme became a permanent feature of the academy program.
“The programme is a pathway for the players to groom and get a chance to feature in U19, Second XI and later in the first-class cricket before they ultimately make it to the international level. “If you see most of the players that feature for Pakistan U19 in international events come from U16 level. After the restructuring of domestic cricket, we have introduced the system at the junior level, which includes U16 and U19 stages.
“The PCB has recently completed three-day and one-day tournaments at the U19 level consisting of six associations, and now the upcoming U16 tournament will also consist of the same format. The three-day matches will give exposure to the young players to adapt to the variable conditions and make them technically, tactically, physically and mentally strong.”
The participating teams’ squads are as follows:
Balochistan
Abdul Wakeel (Quetta), Adil Ahmed Khan (Quetta), Arbaz Khan (Hub), Bashir Ahmed (Quetta), Basit Ali (Naseerabad), Faizullah (Quetta), Ikramullah Tareen (Quetta), Khalid Khan (Quetta), M Uzair (Naseerabad), Mohammad Nasir (Naseerabad), Muhammad Usman (Quetta), Nabeel Ahmed (Quetta), Safiullah (Naushki), Shahid Ali (Jaffarabad), Yasir Hussain (Naseerabad)
Central Punjab
Afzaal Manzoor (Sialkot), Ali Asfand (Faisalabad), Ali Zuraiz Asif (Lahore), Aram Nawab (Faisalabad), Azan Awais (Sialkot), Faham ul Haq (Lahore), Ibrar Afzaal (Lahore), Muhammad Haseeb (Faisalabad), Muhammad Ibtisam (Faisalabad), Muneeb Wasif (Lahore), Musa Azeem (Sialkot), Obaid Shahid (Lahore), Osama Zahid (Lahore), Sumama Riaz (Faisalabad), Zohaib Khan (Lahore)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Aamir Khan (Peshawar), Abbas Ali (Peshawar), Ahtsham ul Haq (Lower Dir), Arfat Afsar (Peshawar), Asif Tehsin (Mardan), Azmat Ullah (Upper Dir), Haseeb Khan (Khyber Agency), Ismail Khan (S.Waziristan), Muhammad Farooq (Mohmand Agency), Muhammad Irfan (Khyber Agency), Muhammad Tahir (Peshawar), Muhammad Umar (Swabi), Muhammad Zulkifal (Charsada), Shahabuddin (Lower Dir), Usama Alam (Peshawar)
Northern
Abdul Basit (Rawalpindi), Amir Hassan (Rawalpindi), Arman Khan (Rawalpindi), Aseer Mughal (Rawalpindi), Asadullah Khan (Islamabad), Atif Khan (Islamabad), Hammad Rafiq (Chakwal), Haseeb Imran (Jhelum), Irshad Ahmed (Rawalpindi), Muhammad Ibrahim (Jhelum), Rabeel Ahmed Khan (Attock), Saad Masood (Rawalpindi), Shahmeer Ali (Rawalpindi), Shamyl Hussain (Islamabad), Sudais Ulfat (Islamabad)
Sindh
Ali Hassan (Karachi), Aliyan Mehmood (Karachi), Asif Ali (Ghotki), Awais Qarni (Karachi), Hassan Asim (Karachi), Huzaifa Ahmed (Karachi), Kashan Fahim (Karachi), Maaz Khurram (Karachi), Mirza Saad Baig (Karachi), Mohammad Meesam (Hyerabad), Mohammad Sikandar (Hyerabad), Shayan Saad (Karachi), Syed Taha Ali (Karachi), Umar Aijaz (Karachi), Wahaj Riaz (Karachi)
Southern Punjab
Abdullah Yaseen (Rahimyar Khan), Aftab Haider (Okara), Alamgir (Multan), Alamzaib (Multan), Ali Haider (Vehari), Arafat Ahmed (Multan), Asad Abbas (Vehari), Bilal Ahmed (Sahiwal), Harib Moen (Lodhran), Haseeb Nazim (Multan), Mohammad Shehzad (DG Khan), Mohammad Ammar (Okara), Mohammad Bilal (Sahiwal), Sharjeel Hassan (Lodhran), Zulkaif Chishti (Pakpatan)