PESHAWAR
Rohail Nazir-led Pakistan Shaheens departed for Australia in the wee hours of Wednesday to feature in Top End T20 Series and two 50-over matches in Darwin which is being organized by Northern Territory Cricket (NTC) from July 30 to August 9, 2023.
Australian Capital Territory’s ACT Comets, Melbourne Stars, Melbourne Renegades, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and NT Strike will participate in the six-team tournament along with Shaheens in a T20 format with the top-two sides making it to the final. Following the T20s, Shaheens will also play two 50-over matches against PNG and NT Strike on August 8-9, respectively.
21-year-old Rohail Nazir has captained Pakistan Shaheens in the past during their tour to New Zealand in Dec 2020. He was also a part of the Shaheens squad in the recent tour to Zimbabwe, where the team featured in two four-dayers and six 50-over matches.
Rohail, who played for Pakistan U19 in the ICC U19 World Cup in 2018 and 2020 editions, will have the services of four players – Ahmed Khan (2022), Ali Asfand (2022), Mohammad Irfan Khan (2020 & 2022) and Syed Zeeshan Zameer (2022) – who had represented Pakistan U19 in the ICC U19 World Cup before.
Apart from these four players, Amir Hassan, Arafat Minhas, Azan Awais, Sajjad Ali, Shamyl Hussain and Wahaj Riaz recently played for Pakistan U19 in the tour to Bangladesh in April-May this year.
Rohail, who was among the non-traveling reserves for Shaheens that clinched the ACC Emerging Men’s Teams Asia Cup title in Sri Lanka, told PCB Digital: “Many congratulations to Pakistan Shaheens for winning the Emerging Asia Cup. We all had put in a lot of effort in the camp held in Lahore under the coaches and the results are visible to everyone.
Pakistan Shaheens squad:
Rohail Nazir (captain), Aaliyan Mahmood, Ahmed Khan, Ali Asfand, Amir Hassan, Arafat Minhas, Azan Awais, Basit Ali, Faisal Akram, Sajjad Ali, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Shamyl Hussain, Shawaiz Irfan, Syed Zeeshan Zameer and Wahaj Riaz
Player Support Personnel – Muhammad Masroor (head coach-cum-manager), Hanif Malik (batting and fielding coach), Umar Rashid (bowling coach) and Imtiaz Khan (physiotherapist)
Schedule of Pakistan Shaheens’ matches:
30 Jul – vs NT Strike (T20)
31 Jul – vs ACT Comets (T20)
1 Aug – vs Melbourne Renegades (T20)
2 Aug – vs Melbourne Stars (T20)
4 Aug – vs PNG (T20)
6 Aug – Final
8 Aug – vs PNG (50-over)
9 Aug – vs NT Strike (50-over)
