The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has officially announced the captains and provisional squads for the upcoming Champions One-Day Cup, set to take place in Faisalabad from September 12 to 29. This tournament will feature the country’s top cricketing talent in a competitive 50-over format, with matches played in a single-league structure.
The captains for the five participating teams in the Champions Cup were appointed by their respective mentors:
- Wolves:Â Led by Mohammad Rizwan, mentored by Misbah-ul-Haq.
- Panthers:Â Captained by Shadab Khan, with Saqlain Mushtaq as mentor.
- Dolphins:Â Saud Shakeel takes the helm, guided by Sarfaraz Ahmed.
- Stallions:Â Mohammad Haris leads the team, mentored by Shoaib Malik.
- Lions:Â Shaheen Shah Afridi serves as captain, with Waqar Younis as mentor.
Here are the squads:
| Team | Players | Mentor |
|---|
| Dolphins | Saud Shakeel (captain, Karachi), Aftab Ibrahim (Karachi), Asif Ali (Faisalabad), Awais Ali (Gujranwala), Faheem Ashraf (Kasur), Kashif Ali (Rawalpindi), Mir Hamza (Karachi), Mohammad Huraira (Sialkot), Mohammad Abbas Afridi (Peshawar), Muhammad Akhlaq (Kamoki), Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (Karachi), Muhammad Riazullah (Peshawar), Noman Ali (Hyderabad), Qasim Akram (Lahore), Sameen Gul (Jamrud), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Karachi), Sahibzada Farhan (Peshawar), Sufiyan Moqim (Kotli), Umar Amin (Rawalpindi), Usman Qadir (Lahore) | Sarfaraz Ahmed |
| Lions | Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain, Peshawar), Abdullah Shafique (Sialkot), Aamir Jamal (Islamabad), Aamer Yamin (Multan), Faisal Akram (Multan), Hassan Nawaz (Islamabad), Hunain Shah (Lahore), Imam-ul-Haq (Lahore), Imran Butt (Lahore), Khushdil Shah (Bannu), Mohammad Asghar (Karachi), Muhammad Irfan Khan (Mianwali), Mohammad Taha (Karachi), Omair Bin Yousuf (Karachi), Rohail Nazir (Islamabad), Shahab Khan (Mardan), Sharoon Siraj (Sahiwal), Sirajuddin (Bajaur), Waqar Hussain (Okara) | Waqar Younis |
| Panthers | Shadab Khan (captain, Islamabad), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai (Quetta), Ahmed Bashir (Lahore), Ali Asfand (Faisalabad), Ali Raza (Sheikhupura), Amad Butt (Sialkot), Arafat Minhas (Multan), Azan Awais (Sialkot), Haider Ali (Attock), Mohammad Hasnain (Hyderabad), Mohammad Umar (Karachi), Mohammad Zeeshan (Faisalabad), Mubasir Khan (Rawalpindi), Rehan Afridi (Khyber), Rizwan Mehmood (Hyderabad), Saim Ayub (Karachi), Umar Siddiq (Lahore), Usama Mir (Sialkot), Usman Khan (Karachi), Usman Salahuddin (Lahore) | Saqlain Mushtaq |
| Stallions | Mohammad Haris (captain, Peshawar), Abrar Ahmed (Karachi), Adil Amin (Peshawar), Azam Khan (Peshawar), Babar Azam (Lahore), Haris Rauf (Islamabad), Hussain Talat (Lahore), Jahandad Khan (Rawalpindi), Junaid Ali (Lahore), Maaz Ahmad Sadaqat (Peshawar), Mehran Mumtaz (Rawalpindi), Mohammad Ali (Sialkot), Mohammad Amir Khan (Swat), Saad Khan (Hyderabad), Shamyl Hussain (Islamabad), Shan Masood (Karachi), Tayyab Tahir (Sarai Alamgir), Ubaid Shah (Lahore), Yasir Khan (Rawalpindi), Zaman Khan (Mirpur) | Shoaib Malik |
| Wolves | Mohammad Rizwan (captain, Peshawar), Fakhar Zaman (Abbottabad), Abdul Samad (Faisalabad), Akif Javed (FATA), Ali Usman (Multan), Bilawal Bhatti (Muridke), Haseebullah (Pishin), Iftikhar Ahmed (Peshawar), Kamran Ghulam (Peshawar), Mohammad Faizan (Faisalabad), Mohammad Imran Jnr (Peshawar), Mohammad Sarwar Afridi (FATA), Muhammad Imran (Khanewal), Naseem Shah (Lahore), Nisar Ahmed (Lahore), Salman Ali Agha (Lahore), Shahnawaz Dahani (Larkana), Zahid Mehmood (Dadu), Zain Abbas (Multan) | Misbah-ul-Haq |
The Champions One-Day Cup will commence with Misbah-ul-Haq’s Wolves facing Saqlain Mushtaq’s Panthers in the opening match on September 12. All matches are scheduled to start at 3 PM, except for the Lions vs Panthers match on September 16, which will begin at 9:30 AM. The tournament will conclude with three playoff matches over four days, culminating in the final on Sunday, September 29.
The PCB has announced provisional squads for each team, selected through a draft process from a pool of 150 players. This pool included 125 leading performers from the past three domestic seasons and 25 wildcard entries based on their experience and performances for Pakistan, Pakistan Shaheens, and Pakistan Under-19 teams over the last three years. The squads will be reduced to 15 players on September 10.
Centrally contracted players have been integrated into the squads, with fitness tests conducted as a primary selection criterion. These tests are scheduled for September 7 and 9 in Faisalabad.
Several centrally contracted players are unavailable for the tournament due to personal reasons, ongoing rehabilitation, or commitments to other leagues, such as the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and county cricket in the UK. These include Mohammad Nawaz, Imad Wasim, Ahmed Shehzad, Azam Khan, and Mohammad Amir.
Nine domestic contracted players were excluded from the squads after failing fitness tests. However, four cricketers have successfully passed their fitness tests and completed rehabilitation, marking their return to competitive cricket.
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