Sports Bulletin Report
LAHORE: Promising wicketkeeper-batter Saad Baig will captain Pakistan Under-19 in the next month’s series against Bangladesh that will be played at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium. The two sides will face off in a solitary four-day match, three One-Days (45-over) and two T20s. The two boards have made the decision to replace the last two one-day matches with T20s to provide an all-round, all-format exposure to teenage cricketers in competitive setting of international cricket.
Sixteen-year-old Saad, who hails from Karachi, has had an impressive 2022-23 season. He was the second best batter in the 50-over National U19 Cup with 299 runs at a staggering average of 99.67 and a strike rate of 109.12. The left-handed Sindh Blues batter also struck two centuries in four outings with 103 being his highest score of the tournament. Behind the stumps, he was involved in nine dismissals.
Four-day squad:
Saad Baig (captain) (Sindh), Abdul Basit (Northern), Ali Asfand (Central Punjab), Basit Ali (Balochistan), Habibullah (Sindh), Haseeb Nazim (Southern Punjab), Mohammad Farooq (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Ibtisam (Central Punjab), Mohammad Ismail (Southern Punjab), Mohammad Nabeel (Northern), Mohammad Shoaib (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Tayyab Arif (Central Punjab), Mohammad Zulkifal (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Naveed Ahmed (Sindh), Uzair Mumtaz (Southern Punjab) and Wahaj Riaz (Sindh)
One-Day squad:
Saad Baig (captain) (Sindh), Abdul Basit (Northern), Ali Asfand (Central Punjab), Ali Raza (Central Punjab), Arafat Minhas (Southern Punjab), Basit Ali (Balochistan), Habibullah (Sindh), Mohammad Farooq (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Ibtisam (Central Punjab), Mohammad Ismail (Southern Punjab), Mohammad Shoaib (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Tayyab Arif (Central Punjab), Momin Qamar (Central Punjab), Shahzaib Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Shawaiz Irfan (Central Punjab) and Uzair Mumtaz (Southern Punjab)
T20 squad:
Saad Baig (captain) (Sindh), Ali Asfand (Central Punjab), Ali Raza (Central Punjab), Arafat Minhas (Southern Punjab), Arham Nawab (Central Punjab), Basit Ali (Balochistan), Habibullah (Sindh), Mohammad Ibtisam (Central Punjab), Mohammad Shoaib (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Tayyab Arif (Central Punjab), Mohammad Zeeshan (Central Punjab), Momin Qamar (Central Punjab), Saad Masood (Northern), Shamyl Hussain (Northern), Shawaiz Irfan (Central Punjab) and Uzair Mumtaz (Southern Punjab)
Players Support Personnel:
Abdul Rehman (head coach), Gordon Parsons (bowling coach), Hanif Malik (fielding coach), Imranullah (Strength and conditioning coach), Faisal Rai (analyst) and Syed Muhammad Asad (physiotherapist)
Series Itinerary:
4-7 November – Four-day match; Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
10 November – First One-Day match; Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
12 November – Second One-Day match; Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
14 November – Third One-Day match; Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
16 November – First T20; Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
18 November – Second T20; Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
