LAHORE, Oct 4: Discarded Test batsman Younis Khan has been appointed as captain of Peshawar Panthers squad as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) unveiled details of the forthcoming National Twenty20 Cup to be held at the Gaddafi Stadium, while signing a sponsorship deal with a private bank at a local hotel here on Monday.

Thirteen teams will take part in the Oct 10-16 event which will provide former Test captain Younis the first opportunity to appear in top-level domestic contest since being banned for an indefinite period for international cricket by the PCB, following a report of the board's inquiry committee on the national squad's disastrous tour to Australia that ended earlier this year.

Moreover, veteran batsman Mohammad Yousuf and national limited-overs captain Shahid Afridi will lead their respective regional teams in the competition. Many other leading national players will be representing different sides in the week-long tournament.

Speaking on the occasion, PCB's Chief Operating Officer Wasim Bari said: “We are very pleased to launch PCB's new partnership with Faysal Bank, as its commitment towards cricket sponsorship is a critical tool for the continued development of domestic cricket.

“We look forward to partnering with the [Faysal] Bank to further strengthen the domestic game in line with our vision of providing opportunities at the grass-roots level.”

He added that excellent security arrangements would be made to conduct the tournament in a befitting manner.

Faysal Bank's Country Retail Head, Aarij Ali, said the sponsorship deal with the PCB was for three years.

The teams which will participate in this top-tier national cricket competition are: Peshawar Panthers, Multan Tigers, Lahore Lions, Quetta Bears, Sialkot Stallions, Rawalpindi Rams, Karachi Zebras, Faisalabad Wolves, Islamabad Leopards, Abbottabad Falcons, Karachi Dolphins, Lahore Eagles and Hyderabad Hawks.

The teams have been divided into four groups, with three teams per group, and one group with four teams. Group winners will qualify for the semi-finals. Three matches will be played daily starting at 12:00pm, 4:00pm and 8:00pm.

Groups:

Group 'A': Peshawar Panthers, Multan Tigers, Lahore Lions, Abbottabad Falcons.

Group 'B': Sialkot Stallions, Rawalpindi Rams, Karachi Zebras.

Group 'C': Faisalabad Wolves, Islamabad Leopards, Quetta Bears.

Group 'D': Karachi Dolphins, Lahore Eagles, Hyderabad Hawks.

Tournament schedule:

Oct 10: Peshawar Panthers v Multan Tigers, Lahore Lions v Abbottabad Falcons, Karachi Zebras v Sialkot Stallions.

Oct 11: Faisalabad Wolves v Quetta Bears, Multan Tigers v Abbottabad Falcons, Karachi Dolphins v Hyderabad Hawks.

Oct 12: Lahore Eagles v Hyderabad Hawks, Karachi Zebras v Rawalpindi Rams, Lahore Lions v Peshawar Panthers.

Oct 13: Islamabad Leopards v Quetta Bears, Peshawar Panthers v Abbottabad Falcons, Lahore Lions v Multan Tigers.

Oct 14: Rawalpindi Rams v Sialkot Stallions, Faisalabad Wolves v Islamabad Leopards, Karachi Dolphins v Lahore Eagles.

Oct 15: Semi-finals.

Oct 16: Final.

Squads:

PESHAWAR PANTHERS:

Younis Khan (captain), Umar Gul (vice-captain), Riffatullah Mohmand, Israrullah, Shakeel-ur-Rehman Afridi, Haroon Ahmed, Gohar Ali, Akbar Badshah, Jamaluddin, Iftikhar Ahmed, Jannisar Khan, Zohaib Khan, Ishfaq Ahmed, Aslam Qureshi.

Reserves: Taj Wali, Sajjad, Mohammad Fayyaz, Fawad Ali.

Officials: Rehmat Gul (coach), Khizar Khan (manager).

RAWALPINDI RAMS:

Babar Naeem, Naved Zamarrud Malik, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat, Hammad Azam, Akhtar Ayub, Zahid Mansoor, Naved Qureshi, Yasim Murtaza, Umar Amin, Mohammad Rameez, Raza Hassan, Jamal Anwar, Fawad Hussain.

Reserves: Rizwan Sadiq, Mohammad Ibrahim, Ajmal Khattak, Awais Zia.

Officials: Sabih Azhar (coach), Mohammad Nazakat (manager).

QUETTA BEARS:

Jalat Khan (captain), Shoaib Khan, Mohammad Ayub, Munir Ahmed, Abid Ali, Mir Wais, Taimoor Siddique, Mohammad Alam, Fariduddin Agha, Bismillah Khan, Nazar Hussain, Abdul Qadeer, Khalil Ahmed, Imran Khan.

Reserves: Mohammad Tahir, Asim Looni, Sardar Wali, Abdul Ghaffar.

Officials: A. Rehman (coach), Zulifqar Ali Bhutto (manager).

ISLAMABAD LEOPARDS:

Shoaib Akhtar (captain), Rao Iftikhar, Raheel Majeed, Naeem Anjum, Zohaib Ahmad, Imad Wasim, Fiaz Ahmed, Fakhar Hussain, Umair Khan, Zeeshan Mushtaq, Kamran Hussain, Faizan Riaz, Shahzad Azam Rana, Azhar Mahmood.

Reserves: Rauf Akbar, Shah Laiq, Raja Mohammad Kashif, Sarmad Bhatti.

Officials: Taimoor Azam (coach), Nasir Iqbal (manager).

LAHORE LIONS:

Muhammad Yousuf (captain), Abdul Razzaq, Umar Akmal, Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Aizaz Cheema, Adnan Rasool, Raza Ali Dar, Imran Ali, Aamir Sajjad, Azhar Attari, Ahmed Shahzad, Mohammad Hamza.

Reserves: Adnan Akmal, Asif Khan, Mohammad Irshad, Tanzeel Altaf.

Officials: Azmat Rana (coach) Naushad Ali (manager).

LAHORE EAGLES:

Taufiq Umar (captain), Imran Farhat, Hamza Haroon Paracha, Adnan Raza, Azhar Ali, Kashif Siddique, Waqas Ahmed, Junaid Zia, Ali Azmat, Zulqarnain Haider, Asif Ashfaq, Khaqan Arsal Raja, Mohammad Khalil, Sheraz Butt.

Reserves: Kashif Mahmood, Jamshed Ahmed, Saad Ghauri, Salman Qadir.

Officials: Manzoor Elahi (coach), Najam Mirza (manager).

FAISALABAD WOLVES:

Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Shahid Nazir (vice-captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Salman, Zeeshan Asif, Samiullah Niazi, Mohammad Talha, Naved Latif, Khurram Shahzad, Ali Waqas, Mohammad Asif, Imran Khalid, Asad Ali.

Reserves: Hassan Mahmood Sr, Mohammad Asif, Hassan Mahmood Jr, Ahmed Hayat.

Officials: Wasim Haider (coach), Mazhar Ali (manager).

ABBOTTABAD FALCONS:

Yasir Shah (captain), Wajid Ali (vice-captain), Fawad Khan, Ahmed Said, Junaid Khan, Khalid Usman, Mir Azam Khan, Khursheed Anwar, Ahmed Jamal, Kashif, Adnan Raees, Sajjad Ali, Nabiullah, Raja Nadeem.

Reserves: Asif Ali, Nasir Khan, Jahangir Shah, Almar Afridi.

Officials: Sajjad Akbar (coach), Mohammad Afzal (manager).

MULTAN TIGERS:

Abdul Rauf, Naved Yasin, Saeed Anwar Jr, Zulfiqar Babar, Mohammad Irfan, Kashif Naved, Gulraiz Sadaf, Ansar Javed, Ahmed Raza, Imranullah Aslam, Babar Ali, Rizwan Haider, Taimoor Doggar, Abid Ali.Reserves: Rahat Ali, Tahir Maqsood, Rameez Alam, Ahsan Raza.

Officials: Shaukat Mirza (coach), Malik Shafqat Zahoor (manager).

SIALKOT STALLIONS:

Imran Nazir, Kamran Younis, Shahid Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Adeel Malik, Tahir Mughal, Shakeel Ansar, Mansoor Amjad, Abdul Rehman, Sarfraz Ahmed,

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Naeemuddin, Faisal Naved, Jawad Ahmed.

Reserves: Prince Abbas, Naved Arif, Haris Sohail, Faisal Javed.

Officials: Naveed Anjum (coach), Naeem Akhtar (manager).

KARACHI DOLPHINS:

Shahid Afridi (captain), Khalid Latif, Shahzaib Hasan, Asad Shafiq, Afsar Nawaz, Fawad Alam, Shaharyar Ghani, Sarfraz Ahmad, Mohammad Sami, Sohail Khan, Tanvir Ahmed, Tariq Haroon, Haris Ayaz, Azam Hussain.

Reserves: Fahad Iqbal, Mohammad Waqas, Ali Mudassar, Danyal Ahsan.

Officials: Azam Khan (coach), Razziq H. Rabbani (manager).

KARACHI ZEBRAS:

Faisal Iqbal (captain), Khurram Manzoor, Ali Asad, Hasan Raza, Fahadullah, Akbar Rehman, Naumanullah, Adnan Baig, Anwar Ali, Tabish Khan, Babar Rehman, Uzair-ul-Haq, Atif Maqbool, Danish Kaneria.

Reserves: Naved Khan, Malik Aftab, Farhan Iqbal, Wajihuddin.

Officials: Sadiq Mohammad (coach), Mohammad Ahmed Naqvi (manager).

HYDERABAD HAWKS:

Azeem Ghumman (captain), Sharjeel Khan, Mir Ali Talpur, Lal Kumar, Nasir Awais, Faisal Athar, Sufyan Ali, Nauman Ali, Zahid Mahmood, Ayaz Jamali, Khadim Hussain, Nasrullah Memon, Aqeel Anjum, Rizwan Ahmed.

Reserves: Aqeel Ahmed, Ghulam Yaseen, Darya Khan, Kashif Bhatti.

Officials: Tauseef Ahmed (coach), Abdul Hameed Pirzada (manager).