Monitoring Desk
LAHORE: Opener Ahmed Shehzad and veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal have been dropped from the Central Punjab team for the upcoming Pakistan Cup one-day tournament.
Following the completion of first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, which produced high-quality red-ball action, the focus has now shifted to white-ball cricket as the Pakistan Cup commences on 8 January.
The 33-match tournament, to be played on double-league basis, will be staged at three Karachi venues – NBP Sports Complex, State Bank Stadium and UBL Sports Complex. State Bank Stadium will host the two semi-finals on 29 and 30 January and the final on 31 January.
Continuing its policy of providing easy access to fans to ball-by-ball live domestic cricket action, the Pakistan Cricket Board will broadcast 13 matches – 10 group and three knockouts from the State Bank Stadium.
PTV Sports will telecast these fixtures live in Pakistan, while the PCB’s YouTube channel will relay delayed stream all across the globe. When Pakistan men’s national team play South Africa in the first Test at Rawalpindi from 26 January, the action will move to PTV National.
The tournament carries nearly PKR10million in prize money as the PCB continues to incentive top-performers. The tournament winners will bag PKR5million, while the runners-up will pocket PKR2.5million.
The best performers of the tournament – Player of the Tournament, Best Batsman, Best Bowler and Best Wicketkeeper – will equally share PKR1million amongst them and PKR800,000 will be handed to 32 players who receive Man of the Match award in group matches and semi-finals. The Player of the Final will receive PKR35,000.
Meanwhile, the six head coaches have finalised their 16-player squads, in which opportunities have been provided to those young cricketers who have given impressive performances over the course of the 2020-21 domestic season.
After helping his team stage an outstanding comeback in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Hasan Ali will continue to lead Central Punjab, who shared the title with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the final ended in an epic tie. The squad consists all 11 players who played the final along with Ahmed Bashir, Bilal Asif, Rizwan Hussain, Sohaibullah and Tayyab Tahir.
