Pakistan National T20 2021 News

Pakistan’s domestic T20 tournament is on and some prominent players, Ahmed Shahzad, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanveer and Imam-ul-Haq talked about the facilities, pitches and accommodations in a video released by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on the official Twitter handle. “The travelling, accommodations, meals of the players, their central contracts, everything has seen am appreciation,” Shahzad said. “We are also seeing a crowd in the ground after a long time,” the right-handed batsman added. Imam also talked about the accommodation and travelling and praised the facilities that are being provided to the players. “Looking at the travelling and accommodations, it doesn’t feel as if we are playing a domestic tournament but it looks as if we are travelling with the Pakistan team itself,”the left-handed batter said. The wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal lauded the way the broadcasting of the tournament is being done and further added that it gives the young players an opportunity to gain confidence. “The way the tournament is being broadcast, it’s a good experience for the youngsters and getting this exposure at a young age is good for the players,” Akmal said. Talking about the pitches, Shahzad said that the Pakistan and New Zealand teams had to lock horns with each other on this venue and these would have been the perfect tracks to play the game. “The series between Pakistan and New Zealand had to be played at this venue and I think these would have been the perfect pitches for international fixtures,” Shahzad said. The Pakistan and New Zealand bilateral tie was abandoned by the Kiwis minutes before the start of the first ODI citing security issues.

On Thursday, September 23, the 19th edition of the oldest Pakistani T20 domestic tournament, the National T20 Cup began in Pindi Stadium, Rawalpindi. This year’s tournament has brought in huge excitement for the first time since 2015, the year after which the Pakistan Super League began and become the premier T20 tournament of the country. Prior to the PSL, this tournament was the biggest T20 competition in the country. So before the 2021-22 edition really gets to the business end, it would be a great idea to know about its emergence. The beginning When the first tournament began in 2004-05, nine teams were from seven different cities were pulled into three groups and the top team from each group then came together to play a triangular series and the top two played the final. Faisalabad Wolves beat Karachi Dolphins to lift the inaugural edition of the tournament. The format was changed in the next edition of the tournament as 13 teams from 11 cities were divided into two groups and the top two teams from each group then played each other in the semi-finals with the final being contested between Faisalabad Wolves and Sialkot Stallions. This time around, Wolves were beaten courtesy of an all-around show by Rana Naved-Ul-Hasan. The four groups format The concept was once again changed in the 2006-07 season with the 13 teams now being divided into four groups with three groups having three teams each while one group had four teams. The group topper from each group entered the semi-finals. This system and the 13 teams remained in existence till the 2011 season of the tournament. During this era, Sialkot Stallions were almost unbeatable as they went on to win five consecutive titles. Among the five seasons of the 13 teams and four groups, tournament, only one team apart from the Sialkot was able to win the tournament and it was in the last season where Lahore Lions beat Karachi Dolphins in the 2010-11 season of the tournament. From 2006-07 to 2009-10, Sialkot beat Faisalabad, Karachi Dolphins twice and Lahore Lions respectively. The era of uncertainty From the 2011 season onwards, the format started to change almost every season with the 2011 season being a Super eight tournament. It was won by Rawalpindi Rams who beat Karachi Dolphins in the fina. The 2011-12 season went back to four groups round robin leading to semi-finals, only this time though, there were 14 teams, with one of them named Afghan Cheetahs. While Sialkot Stallions won the 2011-12 season beating Rawalpindi in the final, Lahore Lions beat Faisalabad Wolves in the 2012-13 season finale. From the 2013-14 season, the Afghan Cheetahs were changed to FATA Cheetahs and the number of teams was increased to 17. Lahore Lions won their second title in a row as a repeat of the 2012-13 season final was on display. Faisalabad Wolves once again lost. For the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, the number of teams was increased to 18 and Peshawar Panthers won two back to back seasons, beating Lahore Lions and Karachi Zebras respectively. The streamlining phase From 2016 to 2018, the Pakistan Cricket Board tried to streamline the tournament as it now had PSL to run as well. So the number of teams was reduced to eight for the smooth running of the league. In the 2016-17 season, two teams each from Lahore and Karachi were paired with four teams from FATA, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Peshawar. In the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons though, one team from Karachi was replaced by a team from Faisalabad. While the 2016-17 season was won by Karachi blues, beating Karachi Whites in an all Krachi final at the Multan Cricket Stadium. The next two season was won by two teams from Lahore as in the all Lahore Final in 2017-18, Lahore Blues beat Lahore Whites, while in the next fina, the whites made sure that they were not losing two finals in a row. They beat Rawalpindi by two wickets in the final held at Multan. The current version The Pakistan domestic cricket saw a great overhaul in 2018 with Wasim Khan becoming the Chief Executive Officer of the Pakistan Cricket Board. Domestic cricket was made a six-team affair which contested in all three formats and also at the junior level. The six teams represented five provinces of Pakistan with the biggest province, Punjab getting two teams to represent them. Thus the six teams, Northern, Southern Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Central Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan have now been contesting the T20 Cup as well since 2019-20. The competition is a double round-robin, then semi-finals and the final now, although the first one was a single round-robin. In the 2019-20 edition, Northern beat Balochistan by 52 runs to win the finale while the last season was won by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where they beat Southern Punjab by 10 runs in the final held at the Pindi Stadium.

The turmoil in Pakistan cricket doesn’t seem to end as, after New Zealand’s sudden tour abandonment, England too decided to pull out from their proposed tour of the South Asian nation which was going to take place in October. Both of England’s Men’s and Women’s teams were about to tour Pakistan for two T20Is and an ODI and a T20I series respectively starting October 15. However, heeding the advice of the newly appointed Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Rameez Raja, the management decided to give something back to the fans and roped in all international stars for the upcoming National T20, the premier domestic t20 tournament for the country. The likes of Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi and Shadab Khan will be seen plying their trades. Veterans like Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez and Sarfaraz Ahmed would also be playing in the league. PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja called this tournament an ideal opportunity for the Pakistan team to prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup. “Following the postponement of the New Zealand series, the National T20 provides an opportunity to our elite cricketers to maintain their focus and composure, show the world that they have not been distracted by the events of last week and continue with their preparations for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup,” Raja was quoted as saying in a press release. The league would be played in two phases starting with the first phase f 15 matches at Pindi Stadium, Rawalpindi and then the next phase of matches including the semi-final and the final at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore. Squads Balochistan – Imam-ul-Haq (captain), Bismillah Khan (vice-captain and wicketkeeper), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Akbar-ur-Rehman, Akif Javed, Amad Butt, Ayaz Tasawar, Gohar Faiz, Haris Sohail, Jalat Khan, Junaid Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ibrahim Snr, Umaid Asif and Yasir Shah Central Punjab – Babar Azam (captain), Hasan Ali (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Ahmed Shehzad, Ehsan Adil, Faheem Ashraf, Hussain Talat, Kamran Akmal (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Akhlaq (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Hafeez, Qasim Akram, Saif Badar, Shoaib Malik, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz and Waqas Maqsood Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Shaheen Shah Afridi (vice-captain), Adil Amin, Arshad Iqbal, Asif Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imran Khan Snr, Israrullah, Maaz Khan, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Imran Khan, Mohammad Wasim, Mussadiq Ahmed and Sahibzada Farhan Northern – Shadab Khan (captain), Mohammad Nawaz (vice-captain), Rohail Nazir (wicketkeeper), Ali Imran, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Imad Wasim, Musa Khan, Nasir Nawaz, Salman Irshad, Sohail Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umer Amin, Zaman Khan and Zeeshan Malik Sindh – Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain and wicketkeeper), Anwar Ali (vice-captain), Abrar Ahmed, Ahsan Ali, Danish Aziz, Hassan Mohsin, Khurram Manzoor, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Taha, Ruman Raees, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood, Shahnawaz Dahani, Sharjeel Khan and Zahid Mahmood Southern Punjab – Sohaib Maqsood (captain), Zeeshan Ashraf (vice-captain), Amir Yamin, Azam Khan (wicketkeeper), Dilbar Hussain, Faisal Akram, Hassan Khan, Imran Randhawa, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ilyas, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Umer Khan, Zain Abbas and Zia-ul-Haq