Abdul Jabbar Faisal
RWALPINDI:-The Pakistan U16 will take on Bangladesh U16 in a three-day fixture at the Khan Research Laborites Stadium (KRL) in Rawalpindi from Friday. The Bangladesh U16 are on their return tour to Pakistan after beating Pakistan U16 2-1 in the three 50-over matches series and 1-0 in the two three-day match series at home in April-May this year.
The two teams are scheduled to play a series of two three-day matches and three 50-over matches from 25 October to 8 November, all five games will be played at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi.
Pakistan is captained by all-rounder Aliyan Mehmood, who has featured in five 50-over matches and one T20 match for Pakistan at the U16-level. Mohammad Waqas is the vice-captain, who has featured in three 50-over matches and two three-day matches.
Pakistan will be banking on their fast bowling department with the likes of Ahmad Khan, Aseer Mughal and Khalid Khan. Abbottabad’s Ahmad Khan, has featured in six 50-over matches for Pakistan picking 14 wickets, while he grabbed four wickets from the two three-day matches in Bangladesh.
Rawalpindi’s Aseer Mughal was the most successful bowler in the three-match 50-over series for Pakistan against Bangladesh U16 with eight scalps despite the visitors losing the series 2-1. He also took seven wickets in the second three-day match which was a drawn match at Sheikh Abu Naseer Stadium in Khulna.
Quetta’s Khalid Khan took eight wickets with an average of 15.50 in the same series. His best figures of 5-33 in an innings came in a losing cause at the Fatullah Khan Saheb Osmani Stadium in Fatullah.
On Thursday, the two captains – Bangladesh’s Nayeem Ahmed and Aliyan Mehmood of Pakistan – had a picture opportunity with the series trophy with Aliyan hoping to play a competitive series.
Aliyan Mehmood said: “This is going to be an exciting series, as we will be playing a competitive side at our home ground. We have prepared really well for the matches, the coaches have worked really hard on us and we will come up with a strategy to start the series on a positive note.
“Captaining the side is a huge honor for me. I am grateful to the management for having faith in my abilities and I look forward to perform to the best of my abilities and bring positive results for the team.
“We have done our preparations; the series provides an equal opportunity for both the teams to showcase their talent.”
Bangladesh have named left-handed batsman Nayeem Ahmed as their captain for the series.
Bangladesh captain Nayeem Ahmed said: “We are here for the series since last two days, and practicing really hard. The players are motivated to play a competitive cricket in the next two weeks.”
Squads Three-day (to be selected from):
Pakistan - Aaliyan Mehmood (captain) (Karachi), Mohammad Waqas (vice-captain) (Faisalabad), Abbas Ali (Peshawar), Afzal Manzoor (wicketkeeper) (Sialkot), Ahmad Khan (Abbottabad), Ali Asfand (Faisalabad), Ali Hasan (Sialkot), Aseer Mughal (Rawalpindi), Ayaz Shah (FATA), Farhad Khan (FATA), Haseeb Imran (Rawalpindi), Ibrar Afzal (Lahore), Khalid Khan (Quetta), Mohammad Shehzad (Multan), Mohammad Sikandar (Hyderabad) and Rizwan Mehmood (Hyderabad)
Bangladesh - Nayeem Ahmed (captain), Ahmood Sharif, Ahosun Habib Leon, Amir Hossain Asif, Anik Chaki, Arafat Islam, Ashiqur Zaman, Limon Hossain , Mazharul Hoque Rupom, Minhajul Hasan Magh, Mohammad Musfik Hasan, Radowan Hossan Siyam, Shamsul Islam Epon, Tanbir Alam Sham and Tawhidul Islam Ferdus
Schedule:
25-27 October – First three-day, Pakistan U16 v Bangladesh U16, KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi
30 October-1 November – Second three-day, Pakistan U16 v Bangladesh U16, KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi
4 November – First One-Day, Pakistan U16 v Bangladesh U16, KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi
6 November – Second One-Day, Pakistan U16 v Bangladesh U16, KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi
8 November – Third One-Day, Pakistan U16 v Bangladesh U16, KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi
