LAHORE: While sons of two former Test cricketers earned places in the Central Punjab U-16 teams, some players who did not play even a single match of the inter-school cricket tournament were also included as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the squads for the U-13 and U-16 teams for Inter-Provincial Cricket Tournaments, starting from Friday.

The U13 matches will be held in Karachi, while Multan will host the U-16 matches.

Faham-ul-Haq, son of former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Aaliyan Salman Butt, son of another Test captain Salman Butt, have been named in the Central Punjab’s Whites Under-16 team.

Aaliyan played four matches scoring just 36 runs, averaging nine in inter-school cricket. However, Faham’s performance as all-rounder was compartively better as he took five wickets at an average of 23 while scoring 60 runs at an average 15.

Dawn has learnt that former Test skipper Azhar Ali’s son Ibtisam Azhar made it to the in the 20 shortlisted players before failing to make it in the final 12.

Leg-spinner Bilal Anjum, who took 20 wickets in school cricket and Saqib Ayub, who scored 326 runs and was also declared as man-of-the-match in the final played between Lahore and Faisalabad failed to make a place in either Central Punjab sides.

Saqib, it has been learnt, was declared overage without getting the chance to prove himself eligible for selection. Shahbaz Javed and M Tayyab did not play any match during the inter-school tournament but were named in Central Punjab Whites team.

“A total of 270 boys from across the country will be engaged in National U13 and National U16 tournaments in Karachi and Multan from Friday, 14 January,” a PCB press release stated on Tuesday.

“The participating players will have a massive and unprecedented incentive to pursue during the tournament as up to 40 top performers from the two events will secure year-long contracts with monthly retainers.”

As many as 12 teams will participate in the National U-16 One-Day Tournament (45 overs) which will be played at five venues in Multan.

The teams have been divided into two pools with all six Cricket Associations fielding two sides (one in each pool). Balochistan, Central Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Northern, Sindh and Southern Punjab Whites will form Pool ‘A’ while the Blues teams from each association will constitute Pool ‘B’. The top sides from each pool will compete in the January 25 final which will be played at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Six teams will participate in the National U-13 One-Day Tournament (25 overs) which will be played at three venues in Karachi. One side each from all provincial associations will compete in the group stage in a round-robin format. The top sides will proceed to compete in the January 24 at the UBL Sports Complex.

National U-13 One-Day Tournament squads:

Balochistan: Abu Bakar, Adnan Ahmed, Ahsan Ullah, Asim Ur Rehman, Faiq Ali, Hamza Khan, Ikram Ullah, Khan Wali, Malik Awais, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Dawood, Muhammad Irfan, Muhammad Suleman , Saleem Jan, Tufail Ahmed.

Central Punjab: Arham Danish, Asad Naeem, Awais Zubair, Fasih Tousaeef, Hassan Ashraf, Hussnain Abbas, Muhammad Ali Sabir, Muhammad Essa Baloch, Rayyan Arshad, Sajjid Mir, Sarmad Nawaz, Sayyar Khan, Taj Muhammad, Ubaid Ullah, Zaryan Ali.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Abdullah, Adnan Khan, Akbar Ali, Atta Ullah, Ikram Ullah, Mohammad Sohail, Muhammad Adeel Khan, Muhammad Talha, Nafees Akhtar, Naveed, Rizwan Ali, Saeed Afridi, Shazad Ahmed, Shoaib, Zain Ul Abideen.

Northern: Abdul Ahad, Abdul Munim, Abu Bakar Minhas, Akhtar Gull, Bilal Bashir, M. Asad Abdullah, M. Ismail Ranjha, M. Yousaf, Malik Muhammad Khizar, Muhammad Muneeb, Muhammad Musa Hasan, Muhammad Sohaib, Muhammad Zohaib Abbas, Saad Abraiz Abbasi, Salar Nazeer

Sindh: Abdul Hayee, Abdul Wahab, Abdullah (Sr), Adnan Nawaz, Ahsan Khan, Ali Sher, Ghulam Ahmed, Hammad Alam, Kifayat Ullah, M. Abdullah Javed, Muhammad Anas, Muhammad Azaan, Muhammad Khan, Sheikh Intiysaam, Syed Mohtashim.

Southern Punjab: Abdullah Latif, Abdur Rehman, Ali Haider, Faizan Riyasat, Hasnain Sajid, Hayat Khan, M.Abdullah, M.Babar Arshad, M.Huzaifa, M.Qasim Ahmad, M.Usman, Maaz Ahmed, Mohsin Malik, Muhammad Umar, Talal Ahmed Khan.

National U-16 One-Day Tournament squads:

Balochistan Blues: Abdul Saboor, Anwar Shah, Bakhtiyar Khan, Gohar Khan, Hafeez Ullah, Innam Ullah, Mubashir Shah, Muhammad Adil, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Asfand, Musharaf Hussain, Sumair Ahmed, Syed Yasir Shah, Talha Shakir, Zohaib Khan.

Balochistan Whites: Arslan Khan, Aurangzeb, Ayaz Gul, Eshrat Ul Ibbad, Faisal Razzaq, Imran Sadiq, Muhammad Shahid, Muhammad Umar, Muzamil Ali, Shehariyar Ahmed, Siraj Ahmed, Syed Waqas Ahmed, Umair Ahmed, Usman Ghani, Zakir Shah.

Central Punjab Blues: Ali Hamza, Ali Raza, Areeb Arif, Faraz Ahmed, Farhan Yousaf, Ghulam Haider, Hamza Zahoor, Hunain Amir, M.Hammad Asif, Mohsin Ali, Momin Qamar, Muhammad Saim, Muhammad Usman, Obaid Shahid, Rana M.Sarfaraz Tariq.

Central Punjab Whites: Aaliyan Suleman, Abu Suffiyan , Ahmed Yaar Khan, Ali Hasan Baloch, Ali Hassan , Ali Raza, Arslan Riz, Danish Saeed, Faham Ul Haq, Kaif Ali, M. Tayyab, M. Tayyab Arif, M. Yasin Bilal, Nauman Ali, Shahbaz Javaid.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Blues: Abdul Raheem, Abdur Rehman, Ahmed Hussain, Asfandyar, Hamza Izhar, Luqman Khan, M Umair Khan, Mian Yousaf Shah, Muhammad Ali, Shahzeb Khan, Usama Khan, Usman Khan, Zain Shah, Zubair Ahmed, Zulkarnain.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whites: Abeel Khan, Adil Waheed, Ilham Khan, Khubib Khalil, M Awais, M Shayan, M.Ansar Ullah, M.Shoaib, Muhammad Haroon, Muhammad Umer, Muhammad Zubair, Naveed Ul Hassan, Riaz Ullah, Shayan, Usama Bangash.

Northern Blues: Abbas Hussnain, Abu Zar, Bilal Ahmed, Hassan Ijaz, M. Hassan Khan, M.Waleed Iqbal, M.Zain Jameel, Muhammad Arshad, Muhammad Asim Kamal, Muhammad Bilal, Muhammad Nabeel, Murtaza Rehman, Raja Hamza Waheed, Shameer Ali, Syed Ali Mehdi.

Northern Whites: Abdullah, Ali Ashfaq, Arsh Zaman, Arslan Ali, Awais Amin, Azaan Kabir, Hussnain Nadeem, Irshad Ahmed, M.Ammar Yasir, Muhammad Abdullah Sajid, Muhammad Ahmed, Muhammad Asmat Ullah, Shahbaz Khan Hurara, Shahmeer Nisar, Yazdaan Abbas Rizvi.

Sindh Blues: Abdul Hadi, Abdul Moiz, Ahmed Muhiuddin, Farhan Zaman, Hameed Karim, Huzaifa Ahsan, M. Talha Khanji, Mawaz Zahid, Musa Azad, Naveed Ahmed Khan, Saad Baig, Saad Mahboob, Saif Ullah Khan, Sufyan Usmani, Yahya Shah.

Sindh Whites: Abdul Rehman Khan, Haroon Arshad, Humza Qureshi, M Danish, M. Ahmed, Maaz Shah, Musab Ahmed, Nauman Ali, Owais Rehem Shah, Sajam Muhammad, Shahzad Khan, Shahzaib Ali, Shiraz Khan, Syed Rehan Ali Shah, Wajid Ali.

Southern Punjab Blues: Haseeb Javed, Inam Ullah, M.Abdullah, M.Aqib Arshad, M.Jan Sher, M.Saqib, Muhammad Ahmed, Raja Shehroz, Rana Adeel Mushtaq, Sameer Ahmed Minhas, Sameer Akhtar, Shahzad Ahmed, Suleman Ahmed, Waleed Raza, Zain Arshad.

Southern Punjab Whites: Abdul Rasool, Abdullah Tauqeer, Ali Husnain Badshah, Bilal Khan, Fahad Kashif, Haseeb Ahmed, M.Farhan, M.Hamid, M.Noman Asif, M.Umair, Rana Haseeb Nazim, Rao Kaleem Haider, ShahazSaeed, Sohaib Akram, Taha Shabbir.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2022