PCB to Organize Festival T20 Match in AJK, Sarfraz & Azhar to Lead the Sides

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is organizing a T20 festival match in Muzaffarabad – the capital of Azad Kashmir – on 54th Defence Day of Pakistan.

The match will be a season-opener and will be played on 6th September at Muzaffarabad Cricket Stadium.

The initiative is aimed at promoting cricket in the region, as the venue has been picked to stage domestic matches under the new system.

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed and former Test captain Azhar Ali will lead the two sides – PCB Chairman’s XI and AJK Prime Minister’s XI, respectively.

Among local cricketers, many stars including Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Bilal Asif, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Rahat Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shan Masood, and Usman Shinwari will also be seen in action.

Former captain Misbah-ul-Haq and parliamentarian Ali Amin Gandapur will also participate in the festival match.

The two squads are:

PCB Chairman’s XI –

Sarfaraz Ahmed (cap)	Abid Ali	Babar Khaliq	Bilal Asif
Faizan Saleem	Babar Azam	Misbah-ul-Haq	Moin Parvez
Imam-ul-Haq	Saqlain Gillani	Shadab Majeed	Shan Masood
Usman Maroof	Usman Shinwari

AKJ Prime Minister’s XI –

Azhar Ali (capt.)	Asad Shafiq	Aqib Liaqat	Hassan Raza
Iftikhar Ahmed	Mohammad Rizwan	Naveed Malik	Rahat Ali
Raja Farhan	Zafar Gohar	Mir Hamza	Ali Amin Gandapur
Imam-ul-Haq