Faysal Bank Twenty 20 Cup - Oct 2010

The Twenty-20 Cup is the domestic Twenty20 cricket championship in Pakistan. Started in 2005, until 2007, it was sponsored by ABN AMRO before in 2008, it was renamed as the RBS Twenty20 Cup being sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland. Now Fysal Bank is sponsoring this season T20 Cup. Following is the summary of previous tournaments.

Season                                 Winner                                 Runner up
2004/05                                  Wolves                                  Dolphins
2005/06                                  Stallions                                 Wolves
2006/07                                  Stallions                                 Dolphins
2007/08                                  Stallions                                 Dolphins
2008/09                                  Stallions                                 Lions
2009/10                                  Stallions                                 Wolves

The tournament will be played from 10-16 October. All matches are to take place at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore and will be aired live on GEO Super.
 The tournament has thirteen teams participating which have been divided into four groups, with three teams per group, and one group with four teams. Group winners will automatically qualify for the semi-finals. Three matches will be played everyday, with the matches starting at 12:00 pm, 4:00 pm, and 8:00 pm.

 Gaddafi Stadium Lahore

 Located in the historical city of Lahore, the Gaddafi Stadium, named after the Libyan leader, was completely renovated during 1995-96 ready for the 1996 World Cup. Designed by the famous architect Nayyar Ali Dada who modelled it on the Mughal School of red hand-laid brickwork and arches, the new stadium is completely covered with plastic seating rather than concrete benches.

Group A          Group B           Group C               Group D
Panthers           Stallions             Wolves                  Dolphins
Tigers               Rams                 Leopards               Eagle
Lions                Zebras               Bears                      Hawks
Rhinos

                                                        TEAMS

Shoaib Akhtar (C), Rao Iftikhar, Azhar Mehmood, Raheel Majeed, Umair Khan, Naeem Anjum, Immad Wasim Zohaib Ahmed, Fiaz Ahmed, Zeeshan Mushtaq, Fakhir Hussain, Faizan Riaz, Shahzad Azam Rana, Kamran Hussain Rauf Akbar, Sarmad Bhatti, Shah Laiq and Raja Mohammad Kashif

 Shahid Afridi (C), Khalid Latif, Shehzaib Hassan, Asad Shafiq, Afsar nawaz, Fawad Alam, Shehryar Ghani, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Sami, Sohail Khan, Tanvir Ahmed, Tariq Haroon, Azam Hussain, Haris Ayaz, Fahad Iqbal, Mohammad Waqas, Ali Muddasir, Daniyal Ahsan

Faisal Iqbal (C), Khurram Manzoor, Ali Asad, Fahad-ul-llah, Akbar Rehman, Nouman-ul-llah, Adnan Baig, Anwar Ali, Tabish Khan, Babar Rehman, Aziz-ul-Haq, Atif Maqbool, Danish Kaneria, Naveed Khan, Malik Aftab, Farhan iqbal, Wajih-ud-din

Naved Ashraf (C), Hammad Azam, Mohammed Rameez, Yasim Murtaza, Raza Hassan, Babar Naeem, Naved Malik, Usman Saeed, Mohammad Ayaz, Zahid Mansoor, Umar Amin, Jamal Anwar, Tahir Mughal, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat, Sadaf Hussain, Fawad Hussain, Rizwan Akbar

  Mohammad Yousuf (C), Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Wahab Riaz, Umar Akmal, Aezaz Cheema, Aamer Sajjad, Azhar Attari, Adnan Rasool, Nasir jamshed, Imran Ali, Ahmed Shhezad, Adnan Akmal, Muhammad Arshad, Asif Khan, Raza Ali Dar, Tanzeel Altaf

Taufeq Umar (C), Imran Farhat, Adnan Raza, Hamza Haroon Paracha, Junaid Zia, Azhar Ali, Kashif Siddiqui, Zulqarnain haider, Ali Azmat, Khaqan Arsal, Asif Ashfaq, Sherraz Butt, Muhammad Khalil, Salman Qadir, Jamshed Ahmed, Kashif Mehmood, Waqas Ahmed

 Younis Khan (C), Umar Gul, Rafatullah Mohmand, Israrullah, Shakeel-ur-Rehman, Haroon Ahmed, Gauhar Ali, Akbar Badshah, Jamaluddin, Iftikhar Ahmed, Jannisar Khan, Zohaib Khan, Ashfaq Ahmed, Mohammad Adnan, Taj wali, Sajjad, Mohammad Fayyaz, Fawad Ali

Jalat Khan (C), Shoaib Khan, Mohammad Ayub, Munir Ahmad, Abid Ali, Mir Wais, Taimur Siddiq, Mohammad Alam, Fariduddin Agha, Bismillah Khan, Nazar Hussain, Abdul Qadeer, Khalil Ahmed, Imran Khan, Mohammad Tahir, Asim Looni, Sardar Wali, Abdul Ghaffar

Misbah-ul-Haq (C), Shahid Nazir, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Salman, Zeeshan Asif, Samiullah Khan, Mohammad Talha, Naved Latif, Khurram Shehzad, Ali Waqas, Mohammad Asif, Imran Khalid, Asad Ali, Hasan Mahmood Sr., Mohammad Asif, Hasan Mahmood Jr., Ahmed Hayat

Abdur Rauf (C), Naved Yasin, Saeed Anwar jnr, Zulfiqar Babar, Mohammad Irfan, Kashif Naved, Gulraiz Sadaf, Ansar Javed, Ahmed Raza, Imranullah Aslam, Babar Ali, Rizwan Haider, Taimur Doggar, Abid Ali, Rahat Ali, Tahir Maqsood, Rameez Alam, Ahsan Raza

 

Shoaib Malik (C), Imran Nazir, Kamran Younis, Shahid Yousuf, Adeel Malik, Tahir Mughal, Shakeel Ansar, Mansoor Amjad, Abdur Rehman, Sarfraz Ahmed, Naved-ul-Hasan, Naeemuddin, Faisal Naved, Jawad Ahmed, Naved Arif, Haris Sohail, Faisal Javed

Azeem Ghumman (C), Sharjeel Khan, Mir Ali Talpur, Lal Kumar, Nasir Awais, Faisal Athar, Sufyan Ali, Nauman Ali, Zahid Mahmood, Ayaz Jamali, Khadim Hussain, Nasrullah Memon, Aqeel Anjum, Rizwan Ahmed, Aqeel Ahmed, Ghulam Yasin, Darya Khan, Kashif Bhatt

 Yasir Shah (C), Wajid Ali, Fawad Khan, Ahmed Said, Junaid Khan, Khalid Usman, Mir Azam, Zia-ul-Haq, Ahmed Jamal, Mohammad Kashif, Adnan Raees Sajjad Ali, Nabeeullah, Raja Nadeem, Asif Ali, Nasir Khan, Jahangir Shah, Almar Afridi

Pakistan Assembly asks Ijaz Butt for explanation

Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, has been summoned by the Pakistan Assembly for a hearing on October 11 to explain the reasons for the controversy-ridden tour of England, as well as his allegations against Andrew Strauss's team and their subsequent withdrawal.

He will also be questioned regarding Younis Khan's continued absence from the Pakistan side.

Apart from Butt, the Assembly also summoned the board's legal advisor Tafazzul Rizvi, former team manager Yawar Saeed, coaches Waqar Younis, Aaqib Javed and Ijaz Ahmed and chief selector Mohsin Khan to the hearing.

"The hearing is being held to review the performance of the team in England, the controversies that took place in England and the way the Pakistan board has handled things so far," Iqbal Muhammad Ali, chairman of the committee, told PTI.

"The committee wants to know the reasons for the shoddy performances and also how the Pakistan team got entangled into such serious controversies.
We also want to know the reason for Butt's statement against the England board and his U-turn, and to review the selection process." The PCB will also have to explain why Younis Khan was being ignored for selection when all the other players punished after the 2009-10 tour of Australia, with the exception of Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, had been pardoned and brought back to the team.

"We want to ask the chairman to explain what crime Younis has committed that he (Butt) is not willing to give clearance to the selectors to pick Younis," Ali said.

Former Pakistan batsman Zaheer Abbas had recently urged the PCB to reappoint Younis as captain to lead the side out of its current crisis.

Pakistan's tour of England was riven by controversy, with a News of the World expose alleging that fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, and Test captain Salman Butt, had conspired to bowl no-balls on demand.

The ICC provisionally suspended the trio, leaving Pakistan without a Test captain.

Shoaib Akhtar to lead Islamabad in T20 Cup

Speedster Shoaib Akhtar will lead a 15-member Islamabad squad in the Faysal Bank T20 Cricket Championship starting at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore from October 10, said a news release of Islamabad Cricket Association (ICA) issued on Saturday. The ICA team also includes Test all-rounder Azhar Mahmood and Test pacer Rao Iftikhar with the young lot of players. Taimoor Azam (Coach) and Nasir Iqbal (Manager) are officials of the team.

ICA squad: Shoaib Akhtar (Captain), Rao Iftikhar, Azhar Mehmood, Raheel Majeed, Umair Khan, Naeem Anjum (wicketkeeper), Immad Wasim Zohaib Ahmed, Fiaz Ahmed, Zeeshan Mushtaq, Fakhir Hussain, Faizan Riaz, Shahzad Azam Rana, Kamran Hussain Rauf Akbar, Sarmad Bhatti, Shah Laiq and Raja Mohammad Kashif.

Butt told to bring new team or leave post term end

Under-fire PCB chief Ijaz Butt has been asked by higher authorities to appoint new officials in the Pakistan Cricket Board or forget about getting an extension after his two-year term expires later this month. Well placed sources in the government have disclosed that the embattled Butt has been given until October 10 to take a decision on forming a new set up of administrators and cricket technocrats in the board.

"Butt has been told he can continue till the World Cup but only with a new team and the present set of officials should be changed," one source said.

"The orders have come from the top including the President who is also chief patron of the board and the Prime Minister," the source stated.

Butt who is currently in London has been told to take a decision on the new set up by October 10 or relinquish his charge.

Signs of impending changes in the board also came on Friday night when the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani gave a hearing to two former employees of the board, Zahid Bashir and Noman Niaz.

Bashir worked as director marketing during the tenure of Tauqir Zia and Shaharyar Khan between 2000 and 2004 while Noman worked in the media department and also remained an analyst with the team during Tauqir's time.

Sources said Bashir, who was also press secretary to the Prime Minister, had been pulling strings to get back into the board.

"During the meeting the Premier exchanged views on the cricket scenario with Bashir and Niaz and also offered them key positions in the new set up of the board," the source said.

"But the Premier made it clear that if Butt agreed to bring a new set up the two would have to work under his chairmanship," he added.

Another source said that former Test captain, Javed Miandad who has also met with President Asif Zardari to discuss cricket affairs is expected to get more authority and say in the cricket matters in the new set-up.

"Until now Butt has kept Miandad sidelined by making him director cricket but virtually giving him no authority or say in cricket matters at all," the source said.

"But the higher authorities now want Butt to bring about changes and try to put Pakistan cricket back on the right track," he added.

ICC hints at lesser penalty for Aamer

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has hinted that Mohammad Aamer, one of the three Pakistan players implicated in spot-fixing scandal, may draw the lowest charge and have the option of returning to cricket, if he is found guilty of spot-fixing. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat disclosed that the tainted trio was likely to be treated differently, as skipper Salman Butt would have far more influence than 18-year-old Aamer, Australian newspaper ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ reported. “Once we present the charges we will be asking for proportionate sanctions,” Lorgat was quoted as saying. “There is still some work to be done, on exactly (what penalties are appropriate) for bowling a no-ball, and instructing a no-ball. We said to Salman we have got evidence upon which we said we’re charging you, because we want to protect the integrity of the game. We believe there is a very strong case which justified our actions (to suspend him), and there is nothing we can do until he appeals.”
The alleged spot-fixers, Salman, Aamer and Mohammad Asif, are expected to make separate defences in their hearings, as they have hired different legal teams after lodging individual appeals against their provisional suspensions by the ICC. While Asif is likely to fall into the more serious charge category, given his long list of previous indiscretions, many have argued that teenage pacer Aamer should be allowed to return to the game, even if he is found guilty, keeping in view his naivety and youth. A few days back, a team source revealed: “Aamer told the team management that he wasn’t aware of the gravity of the situation and also claimed that he just followed Salman’s instructions. Aamer told Shahid Afridi as well as the team manager that he was completely unaware of what was going on. He asked them to help him get out of the mess.” However, according to the ICC rulebook, the lowest penalty for a player found guilty of being approached by a fixer and not reporting it is a six-month ban.