LAHORE: The captains of the six participating teams of the National T20 have urged fans in Rawalpindi and Lahore to rally behind the tournament which showcases the best of Pakistan’s T20 talent.
All 18 Pakistan players part of the T20 World Cup touring party will be seen in action in the tournament that runs from 23 September to 13 October. The first leg will run until 3 October at Rawalpindi’s Pindi Cricket Stadium, before the action moves to Gaddafi Stadium, where the second leg will be staged from 6-13 October.
Balochistan to play Northern in the opening match at 3PM on Friday, defending champions Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to take on Central Punjab in second match from 7:30PM at Pindi Cricket Stadium. A prize money of nearly Rs9 million will be up for grabs in the National T20. The winners will be awarded Rs5 million while the runner-up will receive Rs2.5million.
Meanwhile, all six squads are packed with quality T20 performers and form a great blend of youth and experience. Balochistan will be led by Pakistan batsman Imam-ul-Haq, the southpaw will rely on the experience of batsman like Haris Sohail, Akbar-ur-Rehman and the flair of Pakistan U-19 opener Abdul Wahid Bangalzai.
Balochistan possesses a quality bowling attack with the likes of Junaid Khan, Umaid Asif, Khurram Shehzad, Amad Butt, Akif Javed, Yasir Shah and Kashif Bhatti.
Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam leads a star-studded Central Punjab outfit that includes seasoned T20 campaigners like Ahmed Shehzad, Hussain Talat, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik.
Babar, who will be captaining Pakistan in the T20 World Cup, has an experienced and incredibly potent bowling attack under him in the shape of Ehsan Adil, Hasan Ali, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz and Waqas Maqsood.
Pakistan U-19 captain Qasim Akram and top-order batter Abdullah Shafique are the two youngsters who would be hoping to make a big impression in the tournament. All-rounder Faheem Ashraf will lend balance to the side with his hard-hitting batting and seam bowling.
The Shadab Khan-led Northern is another potent squad in the tournament, the winners of the first edition of the revamped National T20 2019, have a great mix of dynamic batters and bowlers who have the potential of totally dominating their opponents on their day.
Shadab will have the services of big-hitting batters like Haider Ali, Asif Ali, Zeeshan Malik and Sohail Akhtar. All-rounders like the seasoned Imad Wasim and Mohammad Nawaz along with Shadab himself lend great balance to the team.
Northern also possess a fiery pace attack with Haris Rauf, Musa Khan, Salman Irshad and Zaman Khan with the wily left-armer Sohail Tanvir set to spearhead the attack with his wealth of T20 experience. Imad, Nawaz and Shadab provide Northern, quality spin bowling options.
Sarfaraz Ahmed-led Sindh have a solid batting line-up that can post big totals. The top-order of Khurram Manzoor, Sharjeel Khan, Ahsan Ali and Shan Masood will provide the firepower with Danish Aziz likely to get the finisher’s task, a job he repeatedly performed successfully in the last edition of the tournament.
Sindh also has a potent bowling attack spearheaded by pacers Shahnawaz Dahani and Mohammad Hasnain with the left-arm Rumman Raees making a comeback after regaining full fitness, Rumman last appeared in the Pakistan Super League 2020 for Islamabad United more than 18 months ago. Spinners Abrar Ahmed and Zahid Mahmood provide further variation and depth to the Sindh squad.
Southern Punjab are led by Sohaib Maqsood, the hard-hitting top-order batter had an excellent run in the event last year and was one of the reasons of his side’s entry into the final.
Sohaib who is part of the T20 World Cup squad has other attacking batting options in his squad, the left-hander Zeeshan Ashraf and the right-hander Azam Khan can also keep wickets besides hitting it big. The left-hander Khushdil Shah will be tasked to provide big runs at a high strike rate in the middle-order.
All-rounders Aamer Yamin, Imran Randhawa, and Hassan Khan provide depth to the squad. Naseem Shah, Mohammad Ilyas, and Dilbar Hussain are spearheading the bowling attack while young spinner Umer Khan and Faisal Akram provide exciting left-arm-spin options.
