Younis Khan leads Peshawar against Rawalpindi today
By Gul Hameed Bhatti
KARACHI: Peshawar play their first match of the Quaid-e-Azam Cup National One-day Cricket Tournament, at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar today (Sunday), against a Rawalpindi team captained by Pakistan’s ace fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar. Peshawar themselves are being led by a Pakistani ace - middle-order batsman Younis Khan.
Of course, Younis is not one of the selectors’ favourite players these days. In a four-year stint, which started in 1999-00, the Mardan-born 26-year-old has appeared in 28 Test matches and 96 One-day Internationals. And, although he was taken with the senior side on its recent tour of New Zealand, he has failed to make the playing elevens in Pakistan’s last four Tests and 10 one-dayers.
Younis has now, however, got a chance to prove his form and fitness for the national selectors as his team begins its programme in the Quaid-e-Azam Cup One-day Tournament and the first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Championship. Under a revised format for domestic matches, regions instead of zones/cities are playing in most national tournaments this season, and Peshawar represents the largest cricketing region of the country.
As many as 16 district associations in the Peshawar region were represented in the recent National Under-19 Inter-District and Inter-Region tournaments, and the National Inter-District Senior Championship. Apart from Peshawar district itself, these teams included the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Mardan, Dera Ismail Khan, Charsadda and a guest team from Afghanistan.
The other district sides were Swabi, Chitral, Mansehra, Nowshehra, Kohat, Bannu, Swat, Northern Areas, Abbottabad and Haripur. The newly-built cricket stadium in Abbottabad is also set to make its national debut, on March 21, when the Quaid-e-Azam Cup limited-over game and the four-day Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match are played there between Peshawar and Hyderabad.
A PCB-constituted selection committee announced a 15-member Peshawar squad on Friday for the region’s opening fixtures. The other international players in the line-up, apart from skipper Younis, are vice-captain Wajahatullah Wasti, batsmen Yasir Hameed and Akhtar Sarfraz and pace bowlers Fazl-e-Akbar, Umar Gul and Kabir Khan.
The rest of the team comprises opening batsman Rafatullah Mohmand, all-rounders Taimur Khan and Jan Nisar Khan, leg-spinner Hidayatullah Khan, slow left-armer Noor-ul-Amin, fast-medium bowlers Sajid Shah and Mohammad Siddiq and wicket-keeper Ahmed Said.
The selection committee was headed by former Peshawar captain Maazullah Khan and included international umpire Javed Akhtar, former Test left-arm slow bowler Farrukh Zaman and first-class cricketers Anwar Zeb Jan and Ishtiaq Ahmed. The 15 named include players from only two districts of the region - Peshawar, with 11 representatives, and Mardan.
Several other cricketers may later join the team, when the national players in the line-up move away to prepare for the forthcoming Pakistan tour by the Indians. Waiting in the wings are men like Arshad Khan, Aftab Khan, Shoaib Khan, Nauman Habib, Waqar Ahmed, Zulfiqar Jan, Mohammad Fayyaz and Zeeshan Mohsin.
The 25-year-old Shoaib Khan, while playing for Water & Power Development Authority (Wapda) who finished as runners-up to Zarai Tariqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) in the Patron’s Trophy Championship that ended late last month, scored 475 runs at an average of 52.77 in seven matches with a highest of 88 among his four half-centuries. He held 11 catches in addition to be declared best fielder of the tournament.
Another prominent player not yet picked is the leg-spinning all-rounder Mohammad Fayyaz. The 19-year-old who is employed with the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) represented Pakistan at the Under-19s World Cup event in New Zealand two years ago. He is fast turning into a cricketer of the highest class.
The 22-year-old Jan Nisar Khan, who bowls medium-pace to supplement his useful lower-order batting ability, has played for Peshawar, Redco and Pakistan Customs and was a member of the Pakistan team at the Under-15s World Cup in England in 1996. Later, he visited Australia (1997-98) and took part in two Under-19s World Cup competitions - in South Africa in 1997-98 and Sri Lanka in 1999-00.
Left-handed batsman Hidayatullah Khan, who is more well known as a right-arm leg-break bowler and is a mere 14 years old according to his given age, toured Sri Lanka with the Pakistan Under-19s last August. He, however, was found overaged when the Pakistan side for the recent Under-17 Asia Cup competition in India was being chosen.
By Gul Hameed Bhatti
KARACHI: Peshawar play their first match of the Quaid-e-Azam Cup National One-day Cricket Tournament, at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar today (Sunday), against a Rawalpindi team captained by Pakistan’s ace fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar. Peshawar themselves are being led by a Pakistani ace - middle-order batsman Younis Khan.
Of course, Younis is not one of the selectors’ favourite players these days. In a four-year stint, which started in 1999-00, the Mardan-born 26-year-old has appeared in 28 Test matches and 96 One-day Internationals. And, although he was taken with the senior side on its recent tour of New Zealand, he has failed to make the playing elevens in Pakistan’s last four Tests and 10 one-dayers.
Younis has now, however, got a chance to prove his form and fitness for the national selectors as his team begins its programme in the Quaid-e-Azam Cup One-day Tournament and the first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Championship. Under a revised format for domestic matches, regions instead of zones/cities are playing in most national tournaments this season, and Peshawar represents the largest cricketing region of the country.
As many as 16 district associations in the Peshawar region were represented in the recent National Under-19 Inter-District and Inter-Region tournaments, and the National Inter-District Senior Championship. Apart from Peshawar district itself, these teams included the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Mardan, Dera Ismail Khan, Charsadda and a guest team from Afghanistan.
The other district sides were Swabi, Chitral, Mansehra, Nowshehra, Kohat, Bannu, Swat, Northern Areas, Abbottabad and Haripur. The newly-built cricket stadium in Abbottabad is also set to make its national debut, on March 21, when the Quaid-e-Azam Cup limited-over game and the four-day Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match are played there between Peshawar and Hyderabad.
A PCB-constituted selection committee announced a 15-member Peshawar squad on Friday for the region’s opening fixtures. The other international players in the line-up, apart from skipper Younis, are vice-captain Wajahatullah Wasti, batsmen Yasir Hameed and Akhtar Sarfraz and pace bowlers Fazl-e-Akbar, Umar Gul and Kabir Khan.
The rest of the team comprises opening batsman Rafatullah Mohmand, all-rounders Taimur Khan and Jan Nisar Khan, leg-spinner Hidayatullah Khan, slow left-armer Noor-ul-Amin, fast-medium bowlers Sajid Shah and Mohammad Siddiq and wicket-keeper Ahmed Said.
The selection committee was headed by former Peshawar captain Maazullah Khan and included international umpire Javed Akhtar, former Test left-arm slow bowler Farrukh Zaman and first-class cricketers Anwar Zeb Jan and Ishtiaq Ahmed. The 15 named include players from only two districts of the region - Peshawar, with 11 representatives, and Mardan.
Several other cricketers may later join the team, when the national players in the line-up move away to prepare for the forthcoming Pakistan tour by the Indians. Waiting in the wings are men like Arshad Khan, Aftab Khan, Shoaib Khan, Nauman Habib, Waqar Ahmed, Zulfiqar Jan, Mohammad Fayyaz and Zeeshan Mohsin.
The 25-year-old Shoaib Khan, while playing for Water & Power Development Authority (Wapda) who finished as runners-up to Zarai Tariqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) in the Patron’s Trophy Championship that ended late last month, scored 475 runs at an average of 52.77 in seven matches with a highest of 88 among his four half-centuries. He held 11 catches in addition to be declared best fielder of the tournament.
Another prominent player not yet picked is the leg-spinning all-rounder Mohammad Fayyaz. The 19-year-old who is employed with the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) represented Pakistan at the Under-19s World Cup event in New Zealand two years ago. He is fast turning into a cricketer of the highest class.
The 22-year-old Jan Nisar Khan, who bowls medium-pace to supplement his useful lower-order batting ability, has played for Peshawar, Redco and Pakistan Customs and was a member of the Pakistan team at the Under-15s World Cup in England in 1996. Later, he visited Australia (1997-98) and took part in two Under-19s World Cup competitions - in South Africa in 1997-98 and Sri Lanka in 1999-00.
Left-handed batsman Hidayatullah Khan, who is more well known as a right-arm leg-break bowler and is a mere 14 years old according to his given age, toured Sri Lanka with the Pakistan Under-19s last August. He, however, was found overaged when the Pakistan side for the recent Under-17 Asia Cup competition in India was being chosen.
, Arif Mahmood. Leg-spinner - Danish Kaneria. Off-spinner - Tahir Khan. Wicket-keepers - Moin Khan (captain), Atiq-uz-Zaman.
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