Islamabad (Sports Desk):-Zeeshan Nazir from 24 News overcame experienced Mohsin Raza in the final of snooker event of the SSB-SJAS Sports Festival at the Legend Snooker Club. According to details, 24 journalists from different media houses participated in the event where Zeeshan Nazir played aggressively and beat Faizan Lakhani of Geo News in the semifinal and then outclassed tournament favorites Mohsin Raza in the best of 3 final. Later, President PBSA Irfan Motan distributed prizes along with Hanif Lakhani and Senior Vice president of SJAS Zubair Nazeer Khan.

Abdul Jabbar Faisal ISLAMABAD (December 3, 2021):-Pakistan will meet India on December 17, 2021 in the Asian Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy (AMHCT), as the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) announced a 20-member national hockey squad on Friday. Asian Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy is scheduled to be rolled off from December 14, at Dhaka, Bangladesh. According to an official of PHF, Mohammad Umar Bhatta will lead the Pakistan team while Ali Shan will be his deputy during the 9-day international hockey showpiece. Besides Pakistan, India, Republic of Korea, Japan, Malaysia and the hosts Bangladesh team will fight for top honour. Green Shirts will face Japan in their first match of the championship on December 14, 2021. Names of selected players: Waqar (Wapda), Abdullah Ishtiaq (Mari Petroleum), Fullbacks: Mubashir Ali (Wapda), Ammad Shakeel Butt (National Bank), Tazeem ul Hassan (Mari Petroleum), Mohammad Abdullah (Mari Petroleum), Aqeel Ahmed (Mari Petroleum) Halfbacks: Abu Bakar Mahmood (National Bank), Moin Shakeel (WAPDA), Hamad-ud-Din Anjum (WAPDA), Ghazanfar Ali (Mari Petroleum, Azfar Yaqoob (Sui Southern Gas)) Forwards: Mohammad Umar Bhatta (WAPDA), Ali Shan (Sui Southern Gas), Ejaz Ahmed (WAPDA), Rana Waheed (WAPDA), Junaid Manzoor (National Bank), Afraz (Mari Petroleum), Ahmed Nadeem (Mari Petroleum) and Mohammad Salman Razzaq (WAPDA). Olympian Khawaja Junaid will perform the duties of head coach while other two coaches including Olympian Syed Sameer Hussain (PAF), Ajmal Khan Lodhi (Sialkot) will be assistants. Nadeem Khan Lodhi (Sialkot) and Dr Syed Asad Abbas will be other team officials. Schedule: December 14, 2021 India Vs Korea Malaysia Vs Bangladesh Pakistan Vs Japan December 15, 2021 India Vs Bangladesh Pakistan Vs Malaysia Japan Vs Korea December 17, 2021 Bangladesh Vs Korea Japan Vs Malaysia Pakistan Vs India December 18, 2021 Japan Vs Bangladesh Malaysia Vs India Pakistan Vs Korea December 19, 2021 India Vs Japan Malaysia Vs Korea Pakistan Vs Bangladesh

Karachi (Sports Report):-The 10th Essa Lab National Seniors and Juniors Tennis Championship will start from Saturday (December 3, 2021) at the hard courts of Modern Club Karachi. According to an official of Sindh Tennis Association (STA), Dr. Essa Laboratory & Diagnostic Center is the sponsor of this prestigious annual national fixture of the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) circuit tournament. Karachi Tennis Association is organizing the event under the auspices of PTF/ STA. Mohammad Khalid Rehmani will be the tournament referee while Sarwar Hussain will act as Tournament Director. The organizers have received 150 entries in various events. Asad Zaman of Lahore is top seed in both Under 16 and Under 14 Singles, Zohaib Afzal Malik of Lahore is top seed in Under 12 Singles. Natalia Zaman top seed in Girls Under-18 Singles, Farhan Altaf in Men’s Singles and Rashid Ali of Hyderabad in Under 10 Singles.

Saint Lucia (SB Report):-The Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) have partnered with SAYTV to create a market leading live chat app for cricket lovers to discuss the Hero CPL and the other cricketing events around the world all year-round. Although fans can use the app to chat with other users at any time, the first feature event taking place in the app will be a Q&A session with cricket legend and Hero CPL’s Director, International Cricket, Tom Moody. He will be joining CPL chat app users to talk about the India vs New Zealand Test series, the Big Bash T20 tournament in Australia and the Abu Dhabi T10 on the 5 December 2021 during the Big Bash match between Sydney Sixers and Melbourne Stars which gets underway at 8:15am GMT. SAYTV was launched into the German market in March 2021 with the intention of making an all-in-one social chat platform for everything TV related while ensuring an inclusive and friendly chat community welcoming everyone. Since then, the company has begun entering partnerships to create state-of-the-art live chat and entertainment technology for their clients.  SAYTV provides an easy to navigate app interface with engaging community features such as Quiz, breakout rooms, loyalty badges and more. A fully developed in-app store gives the opportunity to offer CPL specific emoticons, avatars, and custom wallpapers to give fans a truly immersive experience. Paula Raithel, SAYTV’s co-founder and CMO, said: “SAYTV provided the official live chat app for the CPL T20 tournament in August 2021. The collaboration was a tremendous success. Within a few days the CPL Chat App gathered an amazing Cricket community, sharing their thoughts and celebrating together. “Now looking forward to the future, we are excited to announce that the CPL and SAYTV have entered into a long-term partnership to provide CPL fans worldwide with a safe, inclusive, fun experience chat app.” Chris Watson. Hero CPL’s Head of Marketing, said: “We are always striving to bring our fans closer to the action and provide a way for them to engage with the league on a year-round basis. SAYTV’s fantastic chat app allows you to do just that. We were delighted with the success of the live chat app during this year’s tournament, and we are very much looking forward to this long-term partnership.” 

Andrew Podnieks When Mark Johnson was a wee sprite of a lad, he was part of what the IIHF later called the greatest moment in international hockey history, leading the U.S. to a Miracle on Ice gold medal at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid. Johnson led all Americans with 11 points and scored two goals in the Miracle game, a 4-3 win over the heavily-favoured Soviet Union. As he celebrated with teammates and basked in this extraordinary glory, he could never have seen a day a quarter of a century later when he would be coaching a women’s hockey team in college or that four decades later he would be the winningest coach in NCAA women’s hockey history. Yet that where he’s at today, coaching the University of Wisconsin Badgers for a 19th season, a team that earned its sixth national championship under Johnson last year and which is now undefeated in 16 games to start the 2021/22 season. Their only blemish to date is a scoreless tie with Bemidji State a couple of weeks ago. You can’t be a good coach if you don’t have good players, and good players won’t come to your college unless you have a good coach. Yet from the very start in 2002, Johnson recruited well and won, year after year. The Badgers won the title last spring thanks to an overtime goal from Daryl Watts, a Toronto native who played for Canada at the 2016 and 2017 Women’s U18 team. Watts is back for a fifth year. She is the only freshman ever to win the Patty Kazmaier Award, which she did in 2018 with Boston College, before transferring. She is currently third on the team in scoring with 28 points in 16 games, and she is one of many players from both sides of the border to have loads of U18 experience. Consider the team’s top scorer, Makenna Webster, who is tearing the NCAA apart with 33 points in 16 games. She also played at three U18’s, winning gold in 2018 and 2020 and silver in between. Casey O’Brien, a 20-year-old forward, was teammates with Webster in ’18 and ’19 and in second in Badgers’ scoring so far this season. Indeed, Webster, O’Brien, and Watts are 1-2-3 in NCAA Division I scoring overall. Goalie Kennedy Blair, meanwhile, has played in 14 of the team’s 16 games and leads the NCAA with 13 wins and five shutouts. She was the winning ‘tender in last year’s championship after transferring from Mercyhurst. Other Americans on the current Badgers’ team with WW18 experience include defender Natalie Buchbinder (2017), forward Delaney Drake (2017), Grace Bowlby (2015, 2016), and Nicole Lamantia (2017). Lacey Eden played at the 2019 and 2020 Women’s U18 and then made the leap to the top level, playing at the Women’s Worlds in Calgary this past August. The 19-year-old had two assists in five games, winning silver. Britta Curl played at the 2018 U18 and joined Eden on the team in Calgary, playing three games and scoring the game-winning goal in a 6-0 win over ROC during the preliminary round. Among the Canadians, the Shirley sisters from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan are prominent. Sophie, the older at 22, played at the 2016 and 2017 U18’s and was named IIHF Directorate Best Forward in the latter. A great skater, she in the kind of talent who will certainly play for Canada’s senior team sooner rather than later. Her younger sister, Grace, followed Sophie and played at the ’18 and ’19 WW18s against, among others, Webster and Eden. Marianne Picard played for Canada at the 2020 WW18 alongside Sarah Wozniewicz; Daryl Watts played in 2016 and 2017; and, Brette Pettet played in 2017. Maddi Wheeler played in 2019 and 2020. In all, an incredible 15 players on this year’s Badgers team have WW18 experience on their resume. It’s no wonder they are undefeated. Johnson’s successes are long and rich. Alumna to his program include all-time scorers Meghan Duggan and Hilary Knight as well as a who’s who of IIHF women’s hockey stars, including Brianna Decker, Sarah Nurse, and Meaghan Mikkelson, and goalies Alex Rigsby (now known by her married name, Alex Cavallini) and Ann-Renee Desbiens. Johnson has also coached five women to Kazmaier Award success – Sara Bauer (2006), Jessie Vetter (2009), Meghan Duggan (2011), Brianna Decker (2012), and Ann-Renee Desbiens (2017). At the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, there were nine Badgers in the tournament, five Canadian and four American. Johnson has now won more than 550 games with the Badgers and led them to national championships in 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2019, and 2021. The only time he hasn’t been behind the bench in the last two decades was for 18 games during the 2009/10 season when he took a leave of absence to coach the U.S. National Team at the Olympics in Vancouver. He won’t be coaching in Beijing, but his Badgers are clear favourites to repeat as champions this year. They have the experience, the skill, the scoring and goaltending. Really, what’s to stop them?

Islamabad (Sports Desk):-The resolution entitled “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal” was adopted by consensus and co-sponsored by 173 Member States at the 76th Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly (GA) in New York. It calls for the observance of the Olympic Truce for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Beijing 2022, from seven days before the start of the Olympic Games, on 4 February 2022, until seven days after the end of the Paralympic Games. The resolution “underlines the importance of cooperation among Member States to collectively implement the values of the Olympic Truce around the world, and emphasises the important role of the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee and the United Nations in this regard”. It also expresses “the expectation that the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 will be a meaningful opportunity to harness the power of sport to advance the world by fostering an atmosphere of peace, development, resilience, tolerance and understanding, and welcoming all the delegations of National Olympic and Paralympic Committees to participate in the Games”. The resolution “calls upon all Member States to cooperate with the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee in their efforts to use sport as a tool to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation in areas of conflict during and beyond the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games”. “The IOC very much welcomes the great support for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 by all the UN Member States, expressed through the adoption by consensus of the Truce Resolution. This is a great recognition of the mission of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to unite the best athletes of the world in peaceful competition, and standing above any political dispute,” IOC President Thomas Bach said. During the debate on the resolution, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was represented by IOC Member and Permanent Observer for the IOC to the UN, Luis Alberto Moreno. He delivered the speech of the IOC President, who could not be present due to the current pandemic situation. In the speech, the IOC President stressed the importance of peace and solidarity in our divided world: “By adopting this resolution, you are supporting the mission of the Olympic Games to unite the best winter sport athletes of the entire world, without any discrimination whatsoever, in a peaceful and respectful competition. This bond of our shared humanity is even more relevant in our polarised world today.” “We can only accomplish this mission if the Olympic Games stand above and beyond all political, cultural and other differences. This is only possible if the Olympic Games are politically neutral and do not become a tool to achieve political goals,” he continued. The Olympic Truce has a 3,000 year-old history, dating from when the Ancient Greeks established the “Ekecheiria” – a sacred truce – to allow the participation in the Olympic Games of all athletes and spectators from the Greek city-states, which were otherwise almost constantly engaged in conflict with one other. “In this way, there was from the very beginning an inseparable link between the Olympic Games and peace, which allowed the ancient Olympic Games to take place for approximately 1,000 years. Just a couple of weeks ago, the original parties of the Ekecheiria – the cities of Olympia, Ilida and Sparta – have solemnly renewed their pledge with their Olympic Truce declaration. I hope that this meaningful initiative is an encouragement for all UN Member States,” the IOC President said in his speech. IOC President Bach explained: “Today, the Olympic athletes demonstrate to the entire world that yes, it is possible to be fierce rivals and engage in intense competition, while at the same time living peacefully and respectfully together. In the Olympic Village, the athletes from every corner of the world are living together in harmony. In the Olympic Games, we are all equal, irrespective of social background, gender, race, sexual orientation, or political belief. In the Olympic Games, everyone respects the same rules – rules set by the IOC and the Olympic Charter. In this spirit, the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 will be an important moment, “President Bach concluded.

Bhubaneswar (SB Report):-South Africa will face Korea in the play-off for the 9th – 10th positions after victories against Pakistan and Poland respectively, who will now contest the 11th – 12th classification match. Canada and Chile will face each other in the 13th – 14th classification game, with USA and Egypt – respective losers against Canada and Chile – will play in the 15th – 16th play-off. The matches will all take place on Saturday 4th December.  13th – 16th Place: Canada 4-0 USA Canada proved too strong for North American neighbours USA in their 13th –16th play-off match, scoring four times without reply to seal their place in the play-off match for 13th position at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021. Canada’s penalty corner routines proved to be the difference between the two sides, with team captain Christopher Tardif, Alexander Bird and Flynn McCulloch all registering PCs before Bird claimed his second of the game from a penalty stoke eight minutes from full time. “Happy with our performance today”, said Canada’s Alexander Bird, the Player of the Match. “We had a really good fourth quarter against South Africa and we just built on that. We really gave our heart today.” USA’s Jatin Sharma said: “We played really well in the first quarter but the rest of the match, we did a couple of mistakes, had a few penalty corners against us. We didn’t stick to our game plan and that’s what made the difference.” 13th – 16th Place: Chile 1-0 Egypt Canada’s opponents in the 13th – 14th classification match on Saturday will be Chile, who battled to a narrow 1-0 win over Egypt in the second game of the day in the Kalinga Stadium. The only goal of the game came a minute into the fourth and final quarter, with Raimundo Valenzuela flicking high into the Egyptian goal from close-range, capitalising on a miss-hit strike from a Chilean team-mate. Egypt hit the post in the latter stages, but it was the Pan Americans who held on for the win to secure their place in the 13-14 play-off game. “It feels good to finally win”, said a relieved Daniel Beroggi – who was named Player of the Match – after the contest. “It was a tough game but today I think we were convinced and determined to win and finally it worked out. It’s been frustrating so far honestly. I think we’ve been playing good. It’s a tough tournament of course.” Khaled Elgandy of Egypt, who will now compete in Saturday’s 15th – 16th classification match against USA, said: “We’re not happy with this result. We wish we would have won today. We were determined to get a first win in this World Cup. We tried a lot, but unfortunately, we didn’t manage to win. But we still have one match and we will keep on fighting. We are improving ourselves match after match.” 9th – 12th Place: South Africa 3-3 Pakistan (4-1 on Shoot-Outs) South Africa are guaranteed to at least match their best finish at a Men’s Junior World Cup after getting the better of Pakistan in the shoot-out following a thrilling 3-3 draw in the third match of the day. Their previous best came at the 2016 competition in Lucknow, but victory in their final match on Saturday would set a new marker for South Africa’s junior team on the global stage. Pakistan opened up a 2-0 lead through Moin Shakeel and Abdul Shahid before Senzwesihle Ngubane pulled a goal back just after half time. Abdul Rehman restored a two-goal lead for the Green Shirts, but South Africa rallied with two goals in just over one minute as captain Guy Morgan rattled home a penalty corner before Idrees Abdulla finished off a glorious team move. Abdulla’s strike took the match to a shoot-out that was dominated by the Africans, who scored all four of their attempts with Moin Shakeel and Abdul Rana both unable to find a way past shot-stopper Taine Bird.  “Shoot-outs are things that we’ve been working on”, said South Africa’s Player of the Match Senzwesihle Ngubane, who netted both in regular time and in the one-on-ones. “We trust our process. It’s all about executing and scoring. Playing as a team is the most important thing. It was a good game of hockey. Credit to Pakistan for giving us a good run.” Pakistan captain Abdul Rana said: “We were in the lead at half-time and then I think we got a little overexcited. The same opportunities we had in the first half we did not manage to convert them in the second half. South Africa played really well and deserved to win. We need to work on our scoring abilities.” 9th – 12th Place: Poland 2-3 Korea Two goals from Player of the Match Kim Hyunwoo helped Korea fight back from 2-1 down to claim a 3-2 victory against Poland, a result which sets up a meeting with South Africa in the 9th – 10th classification game. A brilliant penalty corner deflection from Hong Jinyoung gave Korea an early lead before Poland’s Wojciech Rutkowski scored twice to put his team ahead. However, field goals either side of half time from Kim Hyunwoo – the first being a superb backhand strike from the top of the circle – proved to be enough for a Korea victory, forcing Poland into an 11th – 12th play-off match against Pakistan. “It was a very hard match”, said Kim Hyunwoo. “We won and I’m happy. Our team played a very good defence today. We want to win against South Africa and take 9th place. It will be a hard match.” Poland’s Robert Pawlak said: “It was a really tough match. Our opponent did really well today, they were better. It was just not our day. Pakistan is a really good opponent to play (in the 11th – 12th match). It will be a pleasure for us to play them.”

Karachi (Sports Report):-Northern are on the verge of recording their first win of the season after forcing Central Punjab to follow-on on day-three of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy round-seven which is being played at three Karachi venues.  Over at the the UBL Sports Complex, Karachi, Balochistan amassed 606 runs in their first innings as Ayaz Tassawar and captain Bismillah Khan joined Shan Masood in the centurions club for the innings. The left-handed Ayaz scored the fifth century of his first-class career, his 149-run innings was studded with 16 fours and two sixes and came off 210 balls. Bismillah blazed his way to 125 off 127 balls (19 fours, one six). Kashif Bhatti and Khurram Shehzad then rubbed salt in the Southern Punjab bowlers wounds with contributions of 71 and 50 respectively as Balochistan took a 123-run lead over Southern Punjab’s first innings score of 483. At close on the third-day, Southern Punjab had reached 37 for no loss in their second innings. Over at the State Bank of Pakistan Stadium in the match between Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which is being live streamed on PCB’s YouTube channel, Khurram Manzoor’s 30th first-class century was the highlight of Sindh’s second innings. After conceding a 120-run lead, the table-toppers heading into the tournament’s seventh-round fought back through contributions by Khurram, Saad Khan and captain Asad Shafiq which helped them post 377 runs in their second innings. Sindh set Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a 258-run target, KP finished the day at 13 for no loss, they will be needing another 245 runs on the fourth and final day tomorrow to register their second successive victory in the tournament. On Thursday, Khurram’s 107 came off 280 balls and included 12 fours. Saad’s unbeaten 89 included 12 fours and two sixes, the left-hander faced 143 balls. Asad hit 13 fours in his 83 (166 balls). Irfanullah Shah who took five wickets in the first innings took four in the second while Asif Afridi took three wickets. Over at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex, Northern are on the verge of recording their first win of the season after capturing nine Central Punjab second innings wickets after forcing them to follow-on. Resuming at the overnight score of 223 for eight, Central Punjab were bowled out for 257, conceding a 188-run lead. Northern enforced the follow-on and their bowlers led by off-spinner Mubasir Khan and speedster Haris Rauf gave another outstanding performance to leave Central Punjab reeling at 197 for nine at close of play, a mere nine runs ahead with only wicket standing. Haris took three wickets for 62 and if he succeeds in taking the last wicket tomorrow, Haris would complete his maiden ten-wicket haul in first-class cricket. The promising Mubasir Khan who continues to impress with his all-round talent took five wickets for 34 runs. Central Punjab collapsed from 115 for one to 189 for nine with Mubasir and Haris doing the damage. Ali Zaryab with 71 (nine fours, 169 balls) and Imran Dogar with 55 were the only batters to offer some resistance to Northern bowlers in the second innings. Scores in brief: Southern Punjab vs Balochistan –UBL Sports Complex, Karachi Southern Punjab 483 all out, 117.5 overs (Salman Ali Agha 135, Yousuf Babar 119 not out, Zeeshan Ashraf 102; Kashif Shehzad 3-63, Akif Javed 3-78) and 37 for no loss, 10 overs. Balochistan 606 all out, 124 overs (Ayaz Tassawar 149, Bismillah Khan 125, Shan Masood 105, Kashif Bhatti 71; Hassan Khan 3-27, Aamer Yamin 2-63) Points so far: Southern Punjab – seven, Balochistan – six. Sindh vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa –State Bank of Pakistan Stadium, Karachi Sindh 145 all out, 42.1 overs (Asad Shafiq 31, Faraz Ali 31; Irfanullah Shah 5-43, Asif Afridi 3-16) and 377 all out, 124.1 overs (Khurram Manzoor 107, Saad Khan 89 not out, Asad Shafiq 83; Irfanullah Shah 4-51, Asif Afridi 3-112) and 13 for no loss, 3.3 overs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 265 for 9 (declared) 64.1 overs (Musadiq Ahmed 75, Asif Afridi 50, Iftikhar Ahmed 40; Sohail Khan 5-82, Mir Hamza 3-62) Points so far: Sindh – three, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa - eight. Northern vs Central Punjab – National Bank of Pakistan Stadium, Karachi Northern 445 for 8 (declared), 106 overs (Haider Ali 206, Faizan Riaz 67, Mohammad Huraira 54; Mohammad Ali 3-68) Central Punjab 257 all out, 71.5 overs (Hussain Talat 51, Imran Dogar 43; Haris Rauf 6-47, Mubasir Khan 2-38) and 197 for 9, 75.1 overs (Ali Zaryab 71, Imran Dogar 55; Mubasir Khan 5-34, Haris Rauf 3-62) Points so far: Northern - 11, Central Punjab - four.

Saad Kayani KARACHI (December 2, 2021):-Pakistan cricket selectors today announced the T20I and ODI squads for the home series against the West Indies, which will be played in Karachi from 13-22 December. The 20-over matches will count towards the ICC T20I Rankings, while the 50-over games will be part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League. From the 18 players who were part of the recently-concluded T20I series against Bangladesh, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik have been left out, while fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain has been added to the 15-man squad. Likewise, from the 17 players who were available for selection for the England ODIs in July, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah and Mohammad Wasim Jnr have replaced Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Salman Ali Agha and Sarfaraz Ahmed in the 17-member side, while Abdullah Shafique has been named as a traveling reserve. Chief selector Mohammad Wasim: “As we have been playing T20Is since October and now have a pretty settled and balanced side, we have decided to reduce the number of players to 15. As such, we have not included Imad Wasim, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik. “For the ODIs, which we last played in July, we have accepted the team management’s request and provided them two additional resources. “In consultation with Hasan Ali and taking into consideration that he has been playing non-stop cricket since returning from a back injury, we have decided to give him time off from this series.” Names of players for T20Is: Babar Azam (captain, Central Punjab), Shadab Khan (vice-captain, Northern), Asif Ali (Northern), Fakhar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Haider Ali (Northern), Haris Rauf (Northern), Iftikhar Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Khushdil Shah (Southern Punjab), Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh), Mohammad Nawaz (Northern), Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Wasim Jnr (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Shahnawaz Dahani (Sindh), Usman Qadir (Central Punjab), Names of players for ODIs: Babar Azam (captain, Central Punjab), Shadab Khan (vice-captain, Northern), Asif Ali (Northern), Fakhar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Haider Ali (Northern), Haris Rauf (Northern), Iftikhar Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Imam-ul-Haq (Balochistan), Khushdil Shah (Southern Punjab), Mohammad Nawaz (Northern), Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Wasim Jnr (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh), Saud Shakeel (Sindh), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Shahnawaz Dahani (Sindh), Usman Qadir (Central Punjab) Traveling reserve: Abdullah Shafique (Central Punjab) Player Support Personnel: Mansoor Rana (manager), Saqlain Mushtaq (interim head coach), Shahid Aslam (assistant to head coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Drikus Saaiman (strength and conditioning coach), Abdul Majeed (fielding coach), Talha Ejaz (team analyst), Col (retd) Muhammad Imran (Security Manager), Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi (media and digital manager), Dr Najeeb Soomro (team doctor) and Malang Ali (Masseur) Series schedule 13 Dec – 1st T20I, Karachi 14 Dec – 2nd T20I, Karachi 16 Dec – 3rd T20I, Karachi 18 Dec – 1st ODI, Karachi 20 Dec – 2nd ODI, Karachi 22 Dec – 3rd ODI, Karachi

Ali Ahmed LAHORE (December 2, 2021):-Qasim Akram will lead the 15-player Pakistan Under-19 squad in the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup which will be played in January-February 2022 in the West Indies. The Lahore-born Qasim will also captain the team in the Under-19 Asia Cup that will be played in the UAE later this month. The junior selection committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board had invited 21 high-performing cricketers born on or after 1 September 2002 (eligibility criteria) for a training camp that is currently underway in Lahore to prepare the side for the two tournaments, the camp began last week. Besides the final 15 for both events, the squad also includes two travelling reserves who will be part of the touring party for both tournaments. The squad includes four players who took part in the preceding U19 World Cup that was played in South Africa in January-February 2020, Pakistan finished third in the event. Qasim, openers Abdul Wahid Bangalzai and Mohammad Shehzad and middle-order batter Irfan Khan Niazi were the four players to feature in the South Africa event. Following the 2020 event, Qasim was hugely impressive for Central Punjab in all three formats in the 2020-21 domestic season which was his first, Abdul Wahid scored a double-century for Balochistan in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy besides impressive batting in the National T20. Irfan appeared for Central Punjab in the National T20 and has already earned the reputation of being a clean striker of the ball, Shehzad was also one of the most prolific batters in the 2021-22 U19 one-day and three-day events. Besides the quartet, the squad includes promising players like spinners Faisal Akram (left-arm-wrist-spinner), Ali Asfand (left-arm-spinner), Mehran Mumtaz (left-arm-spinner) and Arham Nawab (off-spinner). Faisal represented Southern Punjab in the National T20. Abdul Faseeh, Haseebullah, Rizwan Mehmood and Maaz Sadaqat were the standout performers with the bat in the domestic U19 circuit. Pacers Ahmed Khan, Awais Ali and Zeeshan Zameer have also performed admirably besides impressing the selectors and coaches with their potential. Pakistan Shaheens and U19 head coach Ijaz Ahmed will lead the support staff on the two tours. Chairman Junior Selection Committee Saleem Jaffer: “Selection of U19 squads is always one of the most challenging and difficult tasks due to the available pool of talent. And this selection was no different, but we have tried to pick the best available 17 players who can help Pakistan win the World Cup for the country. “The PCB has prepared a robust plan for pathways cricket and I can assure all teenage cricketers who have missed out on selection this time that they will get a chance at some stage down the line. “I want to congratulate the 17 players who have made into the squad for the UAE and the West Indies tournaments. I remain confident that this side has the capability and potential to do well in both the upcoming events.” Name of players: Qasim Akram (captain, Central Punjab), Abdul Faseeh (Northern), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai (Balochistan), Ahmed Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Ali Asfand (Central Punjab), Arham Nawab (Central Punjab), Awais Ali (Central Punjab), Faisal Akram (Southern Punjab), Haseebullah (wicketkeeper, Balochistan), Irfan Khan Niazi (Central Punjab), Maaz Sadaqat (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mehran Mumtaz (Northern), Mohammad Shehzad (Southern Punjab), Rizwan Mehmood (Sindh) and Zeeshan Zameer (Sindh) Traveling reserves: Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper, Sindh), Mohammad Zeeshan (Central Punjab). Support staff: Ijaz Ahmed (Head coach), Rao Iftikhar Anjum (Bowling coach), Mohtashim Rasheed (Fielding coach), Mohammad Javed (Strength and Conditioning coach), Waleed Ahmed (Analyst), Hafiz Naeem-ul-Rasool (physiotherapist) and Taimur Azam (Manager).