LAHORE: The national junior selection committee headed by former Test fast bowler Saleem Jaffer on Thursday announced the U-19 squads of the six associations for the national three-day and one-day tournaments of the 2020-21 domestic season.

Earlier, the PCB picked the probables to form the six teams on the basis of their past performances but many deserving were missing in that last, while a number of undeserving performers were in, forcing the Board to cancel the entire process and went on to hold open trials from Sept 16 to 19 in different cities.

And now the chairman of the national selection committee anno­unced the teams on Thursday.

According to a PCB press release issued on Thursday, overall 7,000 probables appeared in the U-19 open trials.

“We tried to give maximum opportunities to the players who turned up for the open trials, I am happy with the final merit-based selection of the six squads and we are all encouraged by the massive turnout at the trials across the country,” the press release quoted Saleem Jaffer as saying.

The U-19 one-day tournament starts on Oct 13 while the three-day event commences from Nov 5.

“After a two-day open trial activity, 40 players were shortlisted for each of the six cricket associations, who then featured in trial matches, on Sept 18 and 19, to stake claims in the final 20-player squads,” the press release added.

The trials were held at the LCCA Ground in Lahore and the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawal­pindi. Trials in Abbottabad, Karachi, Multan, and Quetta were conducted by members of the national junior selection committee, who were joined by the teams’ head coaches.

The first Covid-19 tests of the six squads including the team officials will take place on Saturday in Lahore while the second test will be conducted on Sunday.

Central and Southern Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Northern will be tested at the PC Hotel. Players based in Lahore would also be tested at the same hotel on the same day.

Sindh and Balochistan squads will also be tested at their central station at Muridke Country Club. All six squad members clearing the test will then enter the bio-secure zone in Lahore.

Squads:

BALOCHISTAN: Mohammad Ibrahim Sr (captain), Yasir Khan (vice-captain), Abdul Ghaffar, Abu Huraira, Adil Ahmed Khan, Ali Ahmed, Aurangzeb, Bashir Ahmed, Basit Ali, Faizullah, Haseebullah, Hikmatullah, Jahangir Khan, Kabir Raj, Khalid Khan, Mohammad Ayaz, Mohammad Ibrahim Jr, Mohammad Ismail, Mohammad Salman, Wajid Ali

CENTRAL PUNJAB: Mohammad Hurraira (captain), Umer Eman (vice-captain), Abu Bakar, Afzaal Manzoor, Ali Asfand, Ali Hassan, Arham Nawab, Asad Raza, Bilal Munir, Hasnaat Abbas, Hunain Shah, Khalid Khan, Malik Abdul Rafay, Mohammad Waqas (wicket-keeper), Muneeb Wasif, Muneeb Zafar, Rameez Imran, Saad Waseem, Saeed Ali, Sameer Saqib

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA: Abbas Ali (captain), Nasir Faraz (vice-captain), Adnan Akbar, Ahmad Khan, Ayaz Shah, Hanif-ur-Rehman, Haris Khan, Haseeb Khan, Ismail Khan, Izhar Ahmad, Maaz Ahmad Sadaqat, Mohammad Farooq, Mohammad Hasnain, Naqeebullah, Salman Khan, Shahid Aziz, Shahid Khan, Usman Shah, Zeeshan Ahmad, Zubair Shinwari

NORTHERN: Mohammad Raza-ul-Mustafa (captain), Mubasar Khan (vice-captain), Abdul Faish, Adil Naz, Asif Khan, Faizan Saleem, Hasan Abid Kiani, Haseeb Imran, Hussain, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Asim Sufaid, Mohammad Hamza Shahid, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Ali Taj, Mohammad Shoaib Khan, Osama Afridi, Rehmat Shah, Sajjad Khan, Sher Abdur Rehman, Zaman Khan

SINDH: Saim Ayub (captain), Kashif Ali (vice-captain), Aaliyan Mehmood, Adeel Meo, Asif Ali, Asim Ali, Fardeen Shaikh, Haider Razzaq, Hassan Jafri, Mubashir Nawaz, Mohammad Ghazi Ghori, Mohammad Sikandar, Mohammad Umar, Rehman, Rizwan Mehmood, Salman Khan, Shahryar Rizvi, Syed Ali Naseem, Syed Zeeshan Zameer, Talha Ahsan

SOUTHERN PUNJAB: Mohammad Shehzad (captain), Faizan Zafar (vice-captain), Ali Hamza Wasim, Aon Shehzad, Awais Abbas, Faisal Akram, Husnain Majid, Jahanzaib Razzaq, Jameel-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Abdullah Butt, Mohammad Abubakar, Mohammad Ammar, Mohammad Majid, Mohammad Uzair Mumtaz, Meesam Raza, Mehboob Ahmed, Mubashir Ali, Qamar Riaz, Shahwar Ashraf, Tahir Hussain

Additional players: Abdul Jalil, Abu Zar Khan, Arafat Khan, Ibrar Afzal Khan, Kamran Riaz, Mirza Mohammad Shoaib Jarral, Mohammad Arshad, Mohammad Zubair, Mohsin Essa, Saad-Bin-Yousuf, Shawaiz Irfan, Shahiduddin, Sudais Ulfat, Tayyab Hussain, Zahid Iqbal.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2020