The Pakistan Cricket Board on Friday announced the captains of the five Champions One-Day Cup teams, as well as provisional squads for the tournament, which will be held in Faisalabad from 12-29 September. The captains were appointed by the five team mentors: Misbah-ul-Haq (Wolves), Saqlain Mushtaq (Panthers), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Dolphins), Shoaib Malik (Stallions) and Waqar Younis (Lions). Pakistan’s Test vice-captain Saud Shakeel has been appointed captain of the Dolphins, former Pakistan T20I captain Shaheen Shah Afridi will lead the Lions and the Panthers will be skippered by former white-ball vice-captain, Shadab Khan. Pakistan Shaheens' captain Mohammad Haris will lead the Stallions, while ex-all-format vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan will captain the Wolves. The Champions One-Day Cup will feature the country’s top cricketers. This 50-over tournament will be played in a single-league format. All matches will commence at 3pm, except for the Lions vs Panthers match on 16 September, which will start at 9:30am.

The tournament will conclude with three playoff matches over four days, culminating in the final on Sunday, 29 September. Misbah-ul-Haq’s Wolves will face Saqlain Mushtaq’s Panthers in the opening match on 12 September. The PCB has also announced provisional squads for the five teams. These were selected by the team mentors through a draft process from a pool of 150 players, which was provided by the PCB following fitness tests—one of the primary selection criteria for domestic contracted players. The centrally contracted players will undergo fitness tests in Faisalabad on 7 and 9 September. Out of the 150 players, 125 were leading performers from the past three domestic seasons. The remaining 25 players were wildcards, selected based on their experience and performances for Pakistan, Pakistan Shaheens and Pakistan Under-19 teams over the last three years.

Each team includes existing centrally contracted players. These are:

Dolphins: Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf and Sarfaraz Ahmed

Lions: Abdullah Shafique, Aamir Jamal, Imam-ul-Haq and Shaheen Shah Afridi

Panthers: Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan and Usama Mir

Stallions: Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir and Zaman Khan

Wolves: Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha and Shahnawaz Dahani

Centrally contracted players who are not part of the squads include Mohammad Nawaz (personal reasons), Imad Wasim (unavailable), Arshad Iqbal, Hasan Ali, Ihsanullah and Mohammad Wasim Jnr (undergoing rehabilitation). In addition to Imad Wasim, who is currently playing in the CPL, the following players have made themselves unavailable for the Faisalabad tournament: Ahmed Shehzad, Azam Khan (CPL), Haris Sohail, Mohammad Amir (CPL), Mohammad Abbas (County cricket in the UK), Mohammad Ilyas and Umar Akmal. Fakhar Zaman, who is also playing in the CPL, is due to return on 10 September. Other players undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy include Ahsan Ali, Athar Mahmood, Rizwan Hussain, and Zeeshan Zamir, in addition to Arshad Iqbal, Hasan Ali, Ihsanullah, and Mohammad Wasim Jnr. Nine domestic contracted players were excluded from the Champions One-Day Cup squads after failing their fitness tests. They are: Ali Shafique, Ali Zaryab, Arif Yaqoob, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Rameez Jnr, Saad Baig, Rameez Aziz, Sharjeel Khan, and Shawaiz Irfan. Four cricketers, returning to competitive cricket after successfully passing their fitness tests and completing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy, are: Hunain Shah (Lions), Sameen Gul, Sufiyan Moqim (both Dolphins), and Shahnawaz Dahani (Wolves).

Squads (to be reduced to 15 players on 10 Sep):

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) and Usman Qadir (Lahore)

Mentor – 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) and Waqar Hussain (Okara)

Mentor – 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) and Usman Salahuddin (Lahore)

Mentor – 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) and Zaman Khan (Mirpur)

Mentor – 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) and Zain Abbas (Multan)

Mentor – Misbah-ul-Haq

Event schedule (all matches at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad; 16 Sep match will start at 9.30am, rest of the matches will start at 3pm): 12 Sep – Wolves v Panthers, 13 Sep – Stallions v Lions, 14 Sep – Dolphins v Panthers, 15 Sep – Wolves v Stallions, 16 Sep – Lions v Panthers, 17 Sep – Dolphins v Wolves, 19 Sep – Stallions v Dolphins, 20 Sep – Lions v Wolves, 21 Sep – Panthers v Stallions, 22 Sep – Dolphins v Lions 24 Sep – Qualifier (Team No.1 v Team No. 2), 25 Sep – Eliminator 1 (Team No.3 v Team No.4), 27 Sep – Eliminator 2 (Losing Qualifier v Winning Eliminator 2), 29 Sep - Final

Credit: Independent News Pakistan