PCB launches new domestic ODI tournament

In light of the failure of the World T20 and the suggestions to revamp the current domestic structure, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has launched a five-team ODI competition. The tournament will replace the current Pentangular Cup and will be played between the five different states of Pakistan.

While the venues and the teams remain more or less the same, the process of picking players has been altered, with a draft system set in motion. It will allow a pre-announced captain and coaches to pick their 15-man squads from a list of 150 cricketers in 15 rounds. There was no reason given for the selection process being changed. The tournament will be played between five provincial teams, starting April 19 in Faisalabad.

The draft took place in Lahore, which included the admission of the tainted trio – Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif into the league. While Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir were picked by Punjab and Sind respectively, Asif remained undrafted. Mohammad Hafeez, who is currently nursing an injury, remained unavailable for the draft. Najam Sethi, the chairman of the PCB’s executive committee urged the Pakistan fans to throng the venues for the league.

“Our public loves cricket and we are trying to further elevate our product,” Najam Sethi, the chairman of the PCB executive committee, said. “There is greater involvement of senior cricketers with the draft process in place. Players will also receive a 100% increase in remuneration and the support staff is very experienced. We are celebrating unity in diversity and I urge the fans to come and watch these matches in the stadium.”

Punjab: Salman Butt, Shan Masood, Asad Shafiq, Asif Ali, Akbar-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saad Nasim, Amir Yameen, Shoaib Malik (capt), Ehsan Adil, Amad Butt, Adnan Ghaus, Zulfiqar Babar, Saif Badar

Sindh: Khurram Manzoor, Sami Aslam, Mohammad Waqas, Shoaib Maqsood, Khalid Latif, Fawad Alam, Saad Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt), Imad Wasim, Anwar Ali, Bilal Asif, Mohammad Amir, Sohail Khan, Ruman Raeez, Hassan Khan

Balochistan: Azhar Ali (capt), Owais Zia, Ramiz Raja (junior), Babar Azam, Umar Akmal, Shahid Yousaf, Mohammad Hasan, Mohammad Nawaz, Sohail Tanvir, Junaid Khan, Bilawal Bhatti, Umar Gul, Imran Khan, Osama Mir, Saeed Ajmal

Federal: Sharjeel Khan, Nasir Jamshed, Iftikhar Ahmed, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Asif Zakir, Hammad Azam, Sarmad Bhatti, Arsal Sheikh, Imran Khalid, Zafar Gohar, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Irfan, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Abbas

KPK: Ahmed Shahzad, Fakhar Zaman, Younis Khan (capt), Rameez Aziz, Naveed Yasin, Musadiq Ahmed, Bismillah Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Rahat Ali, Azarullah, Sadaif Mehdi, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Asghar, Zohaib Khan, Hayatullah

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