Pakistan Junior League Players Finalized

Pakistan Junior League is due to start the next month on 6th October. The draft ceremony was organized to pick the best players for the six teams. The teams are Bahawalpur Royals, Gujranwala Giants, Gwadar Sharks, Hyderabad Hunters, Mardan Warriors, and Rawalpindi Raiders. 90 players have been finalized which includes 66 national and 24 international players.

There are three categories: Elite, Premier, and X-Factor.  Nine International Cricket Council member nations will take part in the PJL and 19 matches will be played. The captains of the 6 respective teams are:

• Obaid Shahid- Bahawalpur
• Uzair Mumtaz- Gujranwala
• Mohammad Ismail- Gwadar
• Saad Baig- Hyderabad
• Abbas Ali- Mardan
• Habibullah-Rawalpindi

Some of the notable international players include Nathan Edwards (West Indies) and Isai Thorne (West Indies), Tom Aspinwall (England), Danial Ibrahim (England), Joseph Eckland (England) and Archie Lenham(England), and Hassan Eisakhil (Afghanistan).

PCB chairman Ramiz Raja said “The international aspect of the PJL and the fact that the tournament is the first of its kind, gives it the potential to become the “World Junior League”.” It was a franchise league but in a decision taken last week, the PCB took its ownership.

The squads are as follows:

• Bahawalpur Royals

Obaid Shahid, Arham Nawab, Nathan Edwards, Sajjad Ali, Ali Razzaq, Basit Ali, Mohammad Zeeshan, Nangeyalia Kharotai, Rehan Ahmed, Ahmed Hussain, Farhan Yousaf, Gabriel Gallman-Findlay, Mohammad Danish, Mohammad Tayyab Arif, Shahwaiz Irfan; Support staff: Imran Tahir (mentor), Gordon Parsons (head coach), Imran Farhat (batting coach)

• Gujranwala Giants

Uzair Mumtaz, Ali Asfand, Azan Awais, Tom Aspinwall, Ariful Islam, Hasnain Majid, Mohammad Ibtisam, Mohammad Shan, Shevon Daniel, Hamza Nawaz, Hasan Ali Jr, Matthew Tromp, Mohammad Aqib Asghar, Mohammad Waqas, Saqlain Nawaz; Support staff: Shoaib Malik (mentor), Ijaz Ahmed Sr (head coach), Aizaz Cheema (bowling coach)

• Gwadar Sharks

Mohammad Ismail, Danial Ibrahim, Haseeb Nazim, Joseph Eckland, Arafat Minhas, Luc Martin Benkenstein, Mohammad Shoaib, Saad Masood, Shamyl Hussain, Adnan Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Kushal Malla, Mohammad Abu Bakar, Momin Qamar, Mohammad Zulkifal; Support staff: Vivian Richards (mentor), Mushtaq Ahmed (head coach), Kamran Khan (batting coach)

• Hyderabad Hunters

Saad Baig, Afaq Khan, Aftab Ibrahim, Isai Thorne, Arbaz Khan, Haseeb-ur-Rehman, James Ross Wood, Lahiru Dawatage, Muneeb Wasif, Ali Naseer, Fahad Amin, Hassan Iqbal, Moeez Rana, Mohammad Zubair Jr, Salman Ahmed; Support staff: Daren Sammy (mentor), Abdul Razzaq (head coach), Ghulam Ali (batting coach)

• Mardan Warriors

Abbas Ali, Abidullah, Archie Lenham, George Thomas, Daud Nazar, Haseeb Khan, Mohammad Farooq, Mohammad Nabeel, Olly Cox, Aimal Khan, Burhan Niaz, Mohammad Irfan, Shahzaib Khan, Syed Tayyab Hussain, Zohaib Khan Shanzaib; Support staff: Shahid Afridi (mentor), Abdur Rehman (head coach), Mohammad Sami (bowling coach)

• Rawalpindi Raiders

Habibullah (captain), Afnan Khan, Ali Ishaq, Hassan Eisakhil (Afghanistan), Ali Raza, Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar, Amir Hassan, Aseer Mughal, Kai Smith, Charlie Tear, Haroon Arshad, Naveed Ahmed Khan, Usman Khan, Wahaj Riaz, Ziaullah; Colin Munro (mentor), Toby Radford (head coach), Mohammad Masroor (batting coach)