Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will defend their National T20 title under the leadership of Khalid Usman as the all-rounder has been announced the captain of the winners of the 2020 and 2021 editions.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has had an impressive run in the last two editions of the tournament, winning 15 of 24 matches, and will be eager to continue their form when they open their campaign on 31 August, the second day of the tournament, against Central Punjab.
Another tournament win will further stamp Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a T20 powerhouse, embellish their trophy cabinet with the prestigious silverware, and another PKR5million in their bank account.
All-rounder Faheem Ashraf takes the reins of Central Punjab, the runners-up of the previous edition, who will lock horns with Yasir Shah-captained Balochistan in the second match of the tournament on the National T20 opening day (30 August).
The tournament will begin with what promises to be a thriller with Saud Shakeel’s Sindh taking on Hasan Ali’s Southern Punjab. Northern, the home side, will begin their campaign on 1 September and will be captained by top-order batter Umar Amin.
Here are the complete First XI squads.
Balochistan: Yasir Shah (c), Shan Masood (vc), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Akif Javed, Ali Waqas, Amad Butt, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Haseebullah (wk), Hussain Talat, Junaid Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Junaid and Sajjad Ali
Central Punjab: Faheem Ashraf (c), Abdullah Shafique (vc), Ahmed Shehzad, Ahmed Daniyal, Ali Asfand, Hunain Shah, Irfan Khan Niazi, Junaid Ali (wk), Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Faizan, Qasim Akram, Shoaib Malik, Tayyab Tahir, Usama Mir and Wahab Riaz
Northern: Umar Amin (c), Ali Imran (vc), Aamer Jamal, Hassan Nawaz, Mehran Mumtaz, Mubasir Khan, Mohammad Huraira, Nasir Nawaz, Rohail Nazir (wk), Salman Irshad, Shoaib Amir, Sohail Tanvir, Umer Khan, Usman Khan Shinwari and Zaman Khan
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Khalid Usman (c), Kamran Ghulam (vc), Adil Amin, Aamer Azmat, Arshad Iqbal, Asif Afridi, Ihsanullah, Imran Khan Snr, Israrullah, Maaz khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Sarwar Afridi, Mohammad Amir Khan and Sahibzada Farhan
Sindh: Saud Shakeel (c), Mir Hamza (vc), Abrar Ahmed, Anwar Ali, Asif Mahmood, Danish Aziz, Omair Bin Yousuf, Rumman Raees, Saad Khan, Saim Ayub, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Sharjeel Khan, Syed Faraz Ali, Zahid Mehmood and Zeeshan Zameer
Southern Punjab: Hasan Ali (c), Salman Ali Agha (vc), Ahmad Bashir, Ali Majid, Amir Yamin, Faisal Akram, Hassan Khan, Mohammad Imran Randhawa, Moinuddin, Mohammad Ilyas, Sameen Gul, Sharoon Siraj, Sohaib Maqsood, Zain Abbas and Zeeshan Ashraf (wk)