PCB announces teams and captains for upcoming Champions Cup

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has revealed the captains and provisional squads for the upcoming Champions One-Day Cup, set to take place in Faisalabad from 12 to 29 September.

Five teams will compete in the tournament, each led by captains appointed by their team mentors.

Misbah-ul-Haq (Wolves), Saqlain Mushtaq (Panthers), Sarfaraz Ahmed (Dolphins), Shoaib Malik (Stallions), and Waqar Younis (Lions).

Pakistan’s Test vice-captain Saud Shakeel will lead the Dolphins, while Shaheen Shah Afridi, the former Pakistan T20I captain, will captain the Lions.

Shadab Khan, former white-ball vice-captain, will take charge of the Panthers.

Mohammad Haris, the captain of Pakistan Shaheens, will captain the Stallions, and ex-all-format vice-captain Mohammad Rizwan will head the Wolves.

The PCB Champions One-Day Cup will feature Pakistan’s top cricket talent and be played in a single-league format.

Matches will start at 3 PM, except for the Lions vs Panthers game on 16 September, which will begin at 9:30 AM.

Cricketers anxious over rigorous fitness tests, last-minute venue switch

The tournament will end with three playoff matches before the final on 29 September.

The opening game on 12 September will see Misbah-ul-Haq’s Wolves face Saqlain Mushtaq’s Panthers at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad.

The PCB has also released provisional squads for the tournament, selected by the team mentors through a draft from a pool of 150 players.

Fitness tests were a key factor for the selection, and players with domestic contracts had to pass these tests.

The final squads will be cut to 15 players on 10 September, with fitness tests for centrally contracted players scheduled for 7 and 9 September.