Captains and provisional squads confirmed for Champions Cup

The five Champions One-Day Cup teams' captains and the tournament's tentative lineups were revealed today by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The event will take place in Faisalabad from September 12–29. The five team mentors, Waqar Younis (Lions), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Dolphins), Misbah-ul-Haq (Wolves), Shoaib Malik (Stallions), and Saqlain Mushtaq (Panthers), selected the captains.

Former Pakistan T20I captain Shaheen Shah Afridi will captain the Lions, former white-ball vice captain Shadab Khan will captain the Panthers, while Test vice captain Saud Shakeel will captain the Dolphins. Former all-format vice-captain Muhammad Rizwan will captain the Wolves, while Pakistan Shaheens' skipper Muhammad Haris will head the Stallions.

The best cricketers in the nation will compete in the Champions One-Day Cup. A single-league structure will be used for this 50-over competition. With the exception of the Lions vs. Panthers game on September 16, which gets underway at 9:30am, all games will start at 3pm. Three playoff games spread over four days will wrap off the competition, with the final taking place on Sunday, September 29.

On September 12, Misbah-ul-Haq's Wolves and Saqlain Mushtaq's Panthers will play their first game.

The five teams' tentative squads have also been revealed by the PCB. After fitness tests, which are one of the main selection criteria for domestic contracted players, the PCB produced a pool of 150 individuals, from whom these were chosen by the team mentors through a draft procedure. On September 7 and 9, the players under central contract will go through fitness testing in Faisalabad.

125 players out of the 150 were top scorers throughout the previous three domestic seasons. Based on their background and past three-year results for Pakistan, Pakistan Shaheens, and Pakistan Under-19 teams, the remaining 25 players were wildcard selections.

Every squad consists of players under central contract. These are the following:

Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, and Faheem Ashraf are the dolphins.

Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Aamir Jamal, and Shaheen Shah Afridi are the Lions.

Usama Mir, Shadab Khan, and Saim Ayub are the Panthers.

Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Haris, and Zaman Khan are the stallions.

Wolves: Salman Ali Agha, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Fakhar Zaman, and Shahnawaz Dahani

Arshad Iqbal, Hasan Ali, Ihsanullah, Mohammad Nawaz (personal reasons), Imad Wasim (unavailable), and Mohammad Wasim Jr. (undergoing rehabilitation) are among the centrally contracted players that are not in the teams. 

The following players have withdrawn from the Faisalabad tournament, apart from Imad Wasim, who is now participating in the CPL: Ahmed Shehzad, Azam Khan (CPL), Haris Sohail, Mohammad Amir (CPL), Mohammad Abbas (County cricket in the UK), Mohammad Ilyas, and Umar Akmal. On September 10, Fakhar Zaman, who participates in the CPL, is expected back.

Along with Arshad Iqbal, Hasan Ali, Ihsanullah, and Mohammad Wasim Jr., other players receiving rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy are Ahsan Ali, Athar Mahmood, Rizwan Hussain, and Zeeshan Zamir.

After failing their fitness tests, nine domestically contracted players were left out of the Champions One-Day Cup squads. They are: Danish Aziz, Mohammad Rameez Jr., Ali Shafique, Ali Zaryab, Arif Yaqoob, Rameez Aziz, Sharjeel Khan, and Shawaiz Irfan.

Following successful fitness testing and rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy, four cricket players—Hunain Shah (Lions), Sameen Gul (also with the Dolphins), Sufiyan Moqim (also with the Dolphins), and Shahnawaz Dahani (Wolves)—are making a comeback to competitive cricket.

Squads (to be reduced to 15 players on 10 Sep):

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

STALLIONS: 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

Schedule of events (all matches held at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad; match on September 16 will begin at 9.30 a.m., and the remaining matches will begin at 3 p.m.):



Wolves against. Panthers, Sep. 12

Lions vs. Stallions, Sep. 13

Dolphins against. Panthers, Sep. 14

Wolves vs. Stallions, Sep. 15

Lions against. Panthers, Sep. 16

Dolphins vs. Wolves, Sep. 17

19 September: Dolphins vs. Stallions

20 Sep: Wolves vs. Lions

Panthers vs. Stallions, September 21

Dolphins vs. Lions, Sep. 22

Qualifier on September 24 (Team No. 1 vs. Team No. 2)

25 September – Round of 32 (Team No. 3 vs. Team No. 4)

Eliminator 2 (losing qualifier against winning eliminator 2) is on September 27.

29 September - Final