Babar Azam was snubbed for the captaincy role, as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) unveiled the preliminary squads for the Champions One-Day Cup 2024. Babar Azam and Shan Masood will not lead any of the tournamentโs five teams, which comes as a great surprise.
It should be mentioned that Babar Azam and Shan Masood are the leaders of Pakistanโs red and white ball teams, respectively. However, both players will compete as specialist batters in this competition.
The Champions One-Day Cup will feature Pakistanโs best cricket players and will be played in a single-league format. Misbah-ul-Haqโs Wolves will play Saqlain Mushtaqโs Panthers in the inaugural game on September 12 at Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.
Babar Azam not considered for captaincy
Saud Shakeel, Pakistanโs Test vice-captain, will head the Dolphins, while Shaheen Shah Afridi, a former Pakistan T20I captain, will command the Lions. Shadab Khan, a former white-ball vice-captain, will lead the Panthers. Mohammad Haris, captain of the Pakistan Shaheens, will lead the Stallions, while former all-format vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan will lead the Wolves.
The PCB has also announced tentative squads for the competition, which were chosen by team mentors via a draft from a pool of 150 players. Fitness exams were a major component in the selection process, and players on domestic contracts had to pass them.
Among the 150 players chosen, 125 were best performers in the previous three domestic seasons, while 25 were chosen as wildcards based on their performance for Pakistan and other national teams.
The final squads will be pared to 15 players on September 10, with fitness tests for centrally contracted players set for September 7 and 9.
Here are the provisional squads for the five Champions one-day Cup teams:
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 โ Sarfaraz Ahmed
.@saudshak in ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ โ Dolphins set sail for victory! ๐ฌ
โก ๐๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ 15 ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐๐ 10 ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐#DiscoveringChampions pic.twitter.com/5ilEcrous0
โ Dolphins Champions Cup (@PCB_Dolphins) September 6, 2024
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 โ Waqar Younis
The Eagle in charge of the Lions! @iShaheenAfridi‘s squad gears up to roar ๐ฆ
โก ๐๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ 15 ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐๐ 10 ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐#DiscoveringChampions pic.twitter.com/2TsWbCEwzZ
โ Lions Champions Cup (@Lion_Champions) September 6, 2024
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 โ Saqlain Mushtaq
Panthers set their sights on the trophy with @76Shadabkhan at the helm! ๐ช
โก ๐๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ 15 ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐๐ 10 ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐#DiscoveringChampions pic.twitter.com/wsEXNldH1t
โ Panthers Champions Cup (@PanthersPCB) September 6, 2024
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 โ Shoaib Malik
.@iamharis63 is all set to lead the Stallions to glory! ๐
โก ๐๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ 15 ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐๐ 10 ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐#DiscoveringChampions pic.twitter.com/ZiAvTi0gNz
โ Stallions PCB (@PCBStallions) September 6, 2024
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 โ Misbah-ul-Haq
Wolves are ready to shine under @iMRizwanPak captaincy ๐บ
โก ๐๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ 15 ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐๐ 10 ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐#DiscoveringChampions pic.twitter.com/LO6MlvYkDe
โ Wolves Champions Cup (@WolvesPCB) September 6, 2024
Star-studded roster ๐
๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐-๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฉ! ๐
๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ 15 ๐๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐๐ 10 ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐
Read more๐https://t.co/P6nUc8sFXn #DiscoveringChampions pic.twitter.com/tGLNJ0rCiv
โ Official Champions Cup (@championscuppcb) September 6, 2024
Schedule for the Champions Cup tournament: (all matches at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad; the 16 Sep match will start at 9.30 am, the rest of the matches will start at 3 pm)
12 Sep โ Wolves v Panthers
13 Sep โ Stallions v Lions
14 Sep โ Dolphins v Panthers
15 Sep โ Wolves v Stallions
16 Sep โ Lions v Panthers
17 Sep โ Dolphins v Wolves
19 Sep โ Stallions v Dolphins
20 Sep โ Lions v Wolves
21 Sep โ Panthers v Stallions
22 Sep โ Dolphins v Lions
24 Sep โ Qualifier (Team No.1 v Team No. 2)
25 Sep โ Eliminator 1 (Team No.3 v Team No.4)
27 Sep โ Eliminator 2 (Losing Qualifier v Winning Eliminator 2)
29 Sep โ Final
Also Read: Shan Masood To Be Dumped As Pakistan Test Captain; New Captain For England Tests
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