The PCB launched the Pakistan Cup recently, a domestic one-day competition that replaces the Pentangular Cup, with all the right buzz words like "improved product", "tougher competition", "attracting investors" and so on.

The Pakistan Cup will be contested by 5 regions - Punjab, Sindh, KPK, Balochistan, and Federal, which will be captained by Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Younis Khan, Azhar Ali, and Misbah Ul Haq respectively.


Yesterday, the PCB conducted a draft for the selection of the 15-man squads for each of the teams. We have heard of player auctions for domestic T20 leagues, and we even witnessed a first ever player draft on the lines of the NBA two months ago for the Pakistan Super League. However, for a one-day competition, this was a first.

Full marks for being innovative!

The draft began with a list of around 170 cricketers that the regions could select from. Besides selecting one U-19 player from their own region, there was no other criteria for selection.

Here's a list of the players that the regions had to select from.


And here are the selected squads.


All well and good?

Not at all.

So here are my issues with all of this.

1. The Captains

So it makes sense to make Azhar Ali the captain of one of the teams considering he is Pakistan's ODI captain. Makes sense to make Sarfraz captain as well considering he has just been announced captain of Pakistan's T20 team and is also the Vice Captain of the ODI team.

But the other three captains do not make sense at all.

Misbah and Younis have long retired from ODIs, while Shoaib Malik is in the final few years of his career.

The PCB missed a golden opportunity of providing captaincy experience to future prospective leaders. At a time when the national team has a dearth of leaders this was the perfect chance to test the captaincy skills of some players and even groom some of them.

I can understand the presence of Misbah and Younis in the squads despite their ODI retirements. They are senior players and will bring in plenty of wisdom to the dressing room that other players can draw upon and learn from. However, having them captain the teams serves no purpose. Another player with the reigns, coupled with the opportunity to bank on advice from senior pros, would have provided for a great learning opportunity.

Imad Wasim, a former U19 captain and Asad Shafiq are just two examples of players who could have benefited from such an approach.

But then again, we know that the PCB has no vision for the future!


2. The U19 Selections

WHERE IS HASAN MOHSIN?

Anyone who watched the U19 World Cup earlier this year (each one of the PCB members and selectors should have been watching it) must have seen Hasan Mohsin. The way the kid batted must have put some of the senior players to shame!

He was Pakistan's leading run scorer and leading wicket taker in the U19 World Cup.

AND HE WAS NOT SELECTED BY ANY REGION!

There has been a lot of hoopla regarding the selection of Arsal Shaikh by the Federal region and the consequent disappointment of Misbah. For those who are unaware, Arsal is the son of Shakeel Shaikh who is a member of the Governing Board of the PCB. He is also the head of PCB's cricket committee and was the head of the recent committee formed to investigate the humiliation at the World T20.

So that is the only claim to fame for Arsal Shaikh as his performance is shit. What was the basis of his selection? We all know the answer don't we.


3. The Other Selections

I have no idea what the criteria was for the pool of 170 odd cricketers or for the 15 selected by each region. It does not seem like performance was given any due weightage. Rather the captains / regions just selected players they were comfortable with.

This is why I think so:

Usman Salahuddin
He was part of the pool of 170 but not selected by any region.
Anyone know why?

In the National One-Day Cup that was played in December 2015 he was the 4th highest run scorer with 469 runs in 7 innings at an average of 93.80 and a strike rate of 84.5. He knocked 2 centuries and 2 fifties in those 7 innings.


Saeed Anwar
He was also part of the pool of 170 but not selected by any region.

In the National One-Day Cup he was the 5th highest run scorer with 404 runs in 8 innings at an average of 57.71 and a strike rate of 90.38. He scored 1 century and 3 fifties!

Abdul Rehman Muzammil
He was also part of the pool of 170 but not selected by any region.

In the National One-Day Cup he scored 337 runs in 5 innings at an average of 67.40 and a strike rate of 100.89. He scored 2 centuries in those 5 innings including a 159!

Raza Ali Dar
He was also part of the pool of 170 but not selected by any region.

In the National One-Day Cup he scored 293 runs in 6 innings at an average of 97.66 and a strike rate of 88.25. He scored 1 century and 2 fifties. On top of that, he also picked up 11 wickets in the competition at an average of 27.18 and had an economy of 6.1!

Faisal Iqbal

Two years ago Pakistan's selectors put their faith in two young batsmen who had been scoring heavily in domestic cricket.

The President's Trophy continued this week with some exciting games and good work outs for Pakistan's national team cricketers. With no international cricket being played, this season's President's Trophy has been set alight with the presence of all the national stars.

Habib Bank's First Loss

Habib Bank fell from the number 1 spot for the first time this season as PIA ended their winning streak this week. PIA's victory came on the back of a big performance from Shoaib Malik who followed up his first innings 56 with an unbeaten 94 in the second innings to help PIA chase 176 and win the game by 6 wickets.

Aizaz Cheema continued his good form with the ball picking up 7 wickets in the match including the wicket of Younis Khan in both innings. A rare twin failure by Younis Khan meant that Habib Bank could manage only 200 and 147 in their two innings.

Habib Bank's rare failure allowed Sui Gas to take the lead in the table and they now sit at number 1 with a 3 point lead over HBL.

Sui Gas at the Top of the Table

Sui Gas crushed ZTBL by 186 runs as Pakistan skipper Misbah Ul Haq, Azhar Ali, Taufeeq Umar all returned to form at the same time. The three had had an atrocious run this season so far, but in this week's game against ZTBL, which included Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Khalil, and Abdul Razzaq, the Pakistan trio put on their best show.

Misbah's 110 in the first innings allowed Sui Gas to put up a fighting total of 250 after they were reeling at 63-3. And then Azhar Ali's second innings unbeaten 129, during which he was involved in a 153 run partnership with Taufeeq Umar who scored 80, enabled Sui Gas to set ZTBL a daunting target of 408.

Abdul Razzaq's good form with the ball also continued as he picked up 6 wickets in the first innings that helped restrict Sui Gas to 250; but the effort was not enough to avoid a crushing defeat. Nor was Haaris Sohail's well made century in the second innings. Haaris, who should be in the national selectors' thoughts for future tours, remained unbeaten 117 as ZTBL were bowled out for 221.

Samiullah Khan Niazi, who had been on the fringes of Pakistan's national team for some time picked up 10 wickets for Sui Gas, with his first innings 6 resulting in ZTBL collapsing for a first innings 99.

National Bank Finally Win

National Bank of Pakistan, who have a star studded batting line up with Nasir Jamshed, Sami Aslam, Fawad Alam, Kamran Akmal, and Hammad Azam finally won their first game of the President's Trophy as they won a closely fought encounter against Port Qasim by 2 wickets.

NBP were able to fight off a super performance from Tanvir Ahmed whose 12 wickets for Port Qasim were not enough to avoid a close defeat after they had set NBP a target of 211. Fawad Alam had a rare failure in both innings in a game that was dominated by the bowlers.

Imran Khan, the 25 year old medium fast bowler from Peshawar picked up 6 wickets to restrict Port Qasim to 150 in the first innings. His effort was bettered by Tanvir Ahmed who picked up 7 wickets and restricted NBP to only 117. Then it was the turn of Silakot's Umaid Asif who picked up 5 wickets and bowled Port Wasim out for 177 in their 2nd innings. Tanvir's 5 wicket haul was not enough to restrict NBP who scraped home by 2 wickets to finally notch up a win.

In other games this week KRL and State Bank played out a draw, while Wapda crushed UBL by an innings.

The President's Trophy continues next week.

It has been 3 weeks since Pakistan's domestic season got underway with the President's Trophy First Class competition that involves 10 department teams.

HBL, UBL, PIA, SBP, NBP, KRL, SNGPL, WAPDA, Port Qasim, and ZTBL have been engaged in this departmental tournament and all of Pakistan's test cricketers have been involved thus far.

Habib Bank, who are being captained by Younis Khan, are sitting at the top of the table currently with 3 wins out of 3 thus far; while PIA, Sui Gas, and State Bank follow with 2 wins each in their 3 matches.



Fawad Alam, who is captaining Natonal Bank of Pakistan, is the leading run scorer thus far, with 361 runs in 6 innings. He has already knocked two centuries and one fifty, and is looking in sublime form, just like he does in every domestic season.

It is quite unbelievable that a player like him who averages 58 in first class cricket, which is more than most Pakistan cricketers of the past and present, and who scored a debut test century, has had only 3 test caps.

Younis Khan is also looking in good touch with the only two innings that he has played producing a 48 and an unbeaten 101. He was on 101 overnight in HBL's match against SBP that started yesterday.

The SNGPL top 5 could very well be Pakistan's test line up with Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal, and Misbah

Mohammad Hafeez has had a decent run as well with 227 runs in 5 innings at an average of 45.4, while Umar Akmal has had two knocks of 48 and 40.

But the other three - Misbah, Taufeeq Umar, and Azhar Ali have had a torrid time at the crease. Pakistan test captain Misbah has managed only 53 runs in 5 innings, while Taufeeq and Azhar Ali have managed 129 and 158 in 8 innings respectively.

Among the bowlers, Habib Bank's Ehsan Adil is the leading wicket taker currently with 25 wickets in 4* matches. Ehsan is only 19 years old and is in his debut first class season. He was also a part of Pakistan's U19 World Cup campaign a couple of months ago.

Aizaz Cheema has also been in fine form with the ball picking up 21 wickets in 4* games, while two slow left arm spinners - veterans Kashif Bhatti of UBL and Zulfiqar Babar of WAPDA have picked up 23 wickets apiece.

With no international tours over the next 2 months for Pakistan, all the test players are involved in this President's Cup, which will make the upcoming weeks even more exciting.

My bets are on Habib Bank to continue their winning ways and remain at the top of the table. If you are looking to be in sports, click here for the best betting sites.

Stay tuned for more updates as another week of the President's Cup unfolds.

Shehzad smashed 3 sixes and 8 boundaries and his dominant innings was enough for the Lions to post a match winning 160-9 in 20 overs.

The T20 tournament is now in the knock out stages with the Lions taking on the Rams, and the Stallions taking on the Dolphins in the semi finals to be played tomorrow.

This sets up a potential mouth watering final between the Lahore Lions and the Karachi Dolphins on Friday.

The Dolphins' posted a daunting total of 231-7 in 20 overs with Shahzaib Hasan ripping the heart out of the Wolves' bowling with a whirlwind knock of 69 off only 28 deliveries. Shahzaib's innings included 4 sizes and 8 boundaries, and he was involved in a 90 run opening partnership with Asad Shafiq (27 off 22) in a mere 6.4 overs.

Khalid Latif then took up the charge from where Shahzaib left as he smashed 46 runs off 26 deliveries with the help of 5 sixes and a boundary.

Late lusty blows from Sarfraz Ahmed and Mohammad Sami ensured that the Dolphins reached well beyond 200, a total that proved too much for the Wolves.

None of the Wolves' batsmen could post a significant score and they folded for 107 in only 13.3overs.

Pakistan discard Sohail Khan was the pick of the bowlers for the Dolphins picking up 3-32 including the prized scalp of Pakistan skipper Misbah Ul Haq.

The Dolphins ended the league stage at the top of Group B and now await the results of Group A tomorrow to see who they face in the semi finals.

Zain, who made his T20 debut two days ago in the Tigers' game against the Wolves, smashed an international calibre attack for an impressive 85 runs off 65 deliveries, leading the Tigers to a match winning total of 161 off 20 overs.

The Dolphins, whose pace attack included internationals Tanvir Ahmed, Mohammad Sami, and Sohail Khan had no answer to Zain's attack as his onslaught comprised of 3 sixes and 10 hits to the fence.

Zain score more than half the Tigers runs, which proved to be more than enough for a 14 run win.

Despite their batting line up including a number of internationals such as Shahzaib Hasan, Khalid Latif, Asad Shafiq, and Fawad Alam, the Dolphins could not over haul the Tigers score.

Zain, who has so far opened in all his domestic innings, made his first class debut this season for Baluchistan and has so far impressed with two half centuries in 4 innings.

His List A performance has been even more impressive with a century and 3 half centuries in 5 innings.

Batting first, the Lahore Lions reached a daunting score of 218 in their allotted 20 overs with openers Ahmed Shehzad and Nasir Jamshed involved in a 128 run partnership in only 10.1 overs.

Shehzad dominated the Stallions throughout his innings scoring 74 off 47 deliveries with 2 sixes and 11 boundaries. Nasir was just as brutal smashing 55 off only 27 deliveries with 3 sixes and 5 fours.

Following the scathing attack by Shehzad and Nasir, Umar Akmal took charge with an unbeaten knock of 43 off 23 deliveries with 2 sixes and 4 fours.

The Lions captain, Mohammad Yousuf could manage only 13, despite a six and a four in his innings.

The target of 219 was too much for the Stallions, even though their opener Imran Nazir gave them a flying start with smashing innings of 44 that included 5 sixes!

The other big names in the Stallions - Shoaib Malik, Shahid Yousuf, and Shehzad Malik - could not manage much with the bat. Only a face saving innings of 67 from former U-19 player Ali Khan enabled the Stallions to reach 173 in 20 overs.

Ali's innings included 6 sixes, which was another strong performance from a young player looking to break into the senior team.

Ali has been around the domestic scene for 4 years now and has an impressive record in List A and T20 games. He has also been a part of a successful Pakistan U-19 team in the past.

The 21 year old opener smashed 5 sixes and 5 fours to give the Hawks a flying start that set the platform for their win.

Sharjeel made his First Class debut for Hyderabad in 2009 and in 19 first class games has already notched up 4 centuries in addition to 2 centuries in 12 List A games.

Batting first, the Leopards scored 164 before they were bowled out in the final over of their innings. The Hawks reached their target with 5 balls to spare.

The match was an easy win for the Wolves who marched to victory by 69 runs on the back of two power packed performances by Asif Ali and Hasan Mahmood.

Asif Ali is a 19 year old right hand batsman who made his first class debut for Faisalabad just last December. He has played only 3 first class matches and 5 List A games; while today was his first ever T20 game.

Asif could not have asked for a better start to his T20 career.

He walked out to the crease on the 2nd ball of the match, after Abdur Rauf removed Pakistan international Mohammad Hafeez on the 1st ball of the innings.

Asif did not look back after that. With the held of 7 sixes and 9 boundaries, Asif Ali scored an exact 100 off a mere 59 deliveries, helping the Wolves to a total of 199 in 20 overs.

Pakistan captain Misbah also played some powerful strokes in his unbeaten 32 off 21 deliveries.

In response, the Tigers could only manage 130 as Hasan Mahmood, the 20 year old left arm spinner destroyed their middle order with 5 wickets. Hasan ended the game with figures of 5-23.

Like Asif, Hasan was also playing his first ever T20 game.

Hasan has had an impactful domestic season for Faisalabad this year with two 5 wicket hauls in first class games, and one in a List A game.

Mohsin Khan had said that he would be closely following players performances during the Faysal Bank T20 Cup; Asif and Hasan could not have chosen a better platform to display their prowess with bat and ball respectively.

He's the youngest of 3 cricket playing brothers; however, unlike the elder two, Kamran and Adnan, he is not a wicketkeeper.

He is a batsman and he can definitely bat.

Umar Akmal made his first-class debut in 2007 and made headlines in his first domestic season when he ended the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy as the 3rd highest run scorer.

He amassed 855 runs in 14 innings, but what caught everyone's eye was the manner in which those runs came - at a strike rate of over 90!

He first made waves when he followed up some well made half centuries with a whirlwind knock of 248 against Karachi Blues in the latter half of the first-class competition in 2007.

Umar ended his campaign that season with another belligerent knock of 186, also at better than a run-a-ball.

He had a below par U-19 World Cup for Pakistan last year but he was back to his best when Pakistan's domestic season started in 2008.

The reason why I am briefing you all on him is that Umar Akmal scored his 4th first-class century last night against Australia A in the 1st test that ended in a draw.

Many in Pakistan have predicted big things for Umar, claiming that he is the best batsman among the 3 brothers.

His first-class record suggests the same, but whether he will be able to take the next step into international cricket or not depends on how he continues his good run.

Umar's stint with Pakistan A down under will definitely do him good and help him further prove his credentials.

Many claim that his big runs in Pakistan's domestic circuit have come against below average bowling.

Well last night he notched up an unbeaten 100 against a more than decent attack including Doug Bollinger, Jason Krejza, and Clint McKay.

One for the future I reckon.

After his match winning effort on day 1 of the tournament, Malik put in another allround effort with a score of 42 and bowling figures of 2-38 that led his team to a narrow win.

For a change his bowling is winning matches this time.

He was instrumental in initiating the collapse picking up Yasir Hameed (57) and Khurram Shehzad (32) in the same over that resulted in the Panthers sliding from 142-2 to 212 all out.

The Stallions' spinners, Malik, Rahman, and Mansoor, were at the fore again picking up 4 wickets between them while giving away only 98 runs in 28 overs between them.

The other night against the Leopards they had picked up 7-119 in 24.

Punjab Stallions 229 all out in 50 overs (Mansoor Amjad 44, Shoaib Malik 42, Samiullah Khan 3-39, Shakeel Rehman 3-23) beat NWFP Panthers 212 all out (Yasir Hameed 57, Rafatullah Mohmand 45, Shoaib Malik 2-38, Mohd. Talha 2-53) by 17 runs.