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Preparations for U19 World Cup 2022 to commence in Lahore from 4 January

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Preparations for U19 World Cup 2022 to commence in Lahore from 4 January

• In line with the ICC’s age criteria for the West Indies event, selectors invite 31 players who were born on or after 1 September 2002

• Chief selector Saleem Jaffar says strategy is to identify the best U19 talent, keep it connected with the game and groom it for the bigger stage


Lahore, 24 December 2020:

Thirty-one teenagers edged closer to cherishing their dreams of representing Pakistan in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup West Indies 2022 when they were invited for a six-week training and preparation camp for the event proper at the National High Performance Centre (NHPC) in Lahore from 4 January 2021.

These 29 off the 31 players have been selected following their impressive performances in the recently-concluded PCB U19 three-day and one-day tournaments and, more importantly, keeping in mind the ICC’s age criteria for the World Cup, which only allows players born on or after 1 September 2002 to be eligible to participate in the 14th edition of the competition.

Balochistan’s Abdul Wahid Bangalzai and Central Punjab’s Qasim Akram missed the U19 events as they were participating in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy that ran concurrently with the age-group competitions. In the second XI Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Abdul Wahid scored 229 runs in five matches, while Qasim Akram has scored 234 runs in six first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches to date.

Due to the ICC’s age eligibility criteria, some of the star performers from this season’s PCB U19 three-day and one-day tournaments, including Mohammad Huraira, Mubashir Nawaz, Mubasir Khan and Saim Ayub, have been aged-out for the West Indies event. Nevertheless, the two age-group events have proved to be a stepping-stone for these talented cricketers to graduate to the senior competitions.

Chair of the Junior Selection Committee, Saleem Jaffar: “Unlike in the past, when we used to assemble our junior squads in the lead up to a global event, we have made a strategic decision to start our preparations, at least, 12 months in advance and that too under the supervision of the best available coaches at the National High Performance Centre.

“While it will ensure our leading U19 cricketers get sufficient time to prepare for the World Cup, this fits perfectly with our strategy that revolves around identifying the best available talent at the grassroots level and providing them with an environment where they can develop and get ready for the bigger stage.

“This is an ongoing process and outstanding performers from next year’s PCB U19 three-day and one-day tournaments will be added to the mix before we pick the best possible squad for the Caribbean event.”

As per the PCB Covid-19 protocols, the 31 players will undergo tests at their respective bases. Those returning negative, will report at the NHPC on 31 December, where they will undergo second round of testing. Following the second negative tests, the players will be allowed to integrate with the wider group and participate in the camp from 4 January under the watchful and experienced eyes of the NHPC coaches, including Atiq-uz-Zaman, Mohammad Yousuf, Saqlain Mushtaq and Umar Rashid.

Pakistan junior head coach Ijaz Ahmed will assume charge of the camp when he returns from New Zealand with the Pakistan Shaheens’ squad.

The six-week camp is the first of a series of training and preparation camps that will be staged throughout the year at various High Performance Centres across the country. The objective to set up the camp 12 months prior to the event proper is to ensure the Pakistan U19 cricket team is fully prepared and ready for the competition, it last won in 2006.

Some of the prominent players invited for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup West Indies 2022 camp are: Northern’s Abdul Faseeh (total of 859 runs in the two PCB U19 events), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Maaz Sadaqat (559 runs in the two events), Balochistan’s wicketkeeper Haseebullah (490 runs and dismissed 21 batsmen behind wickets in the two events), Sindh Aaliyan Mehmood (44 wickets in the two events), Sindh’s Adeel Meo (41 wickets in the two events), Southern Punjab’s Faisal Akram (39 wickets in the two events) and Central Punjab’s Arham Nawab (38 wickets in the two events).

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Maaz Sadaqat, who scored 363 runs in the one-day competition and another 196 in the three-day event, is the youngest member of the list at just over 15 years and seven months.

31 probables are:

Batsmen (12) - Abbas Ali (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Abdul Faseeh (Northern), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai (Balochistan), Aun Shehzad (Southern Punjab), Fahad Munir (Central Punjab), Maaz Sadaqat (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Irfan Khan (Central Punjab), Mohammad Shehzad (Southern Punjab), Mohammad Waqas (Central Punjab), Mubashir Ali (Southern Punjab), Qasim Akram (Central Punjab) and Rizwan Mehmood (Sindh)

Wicketkeepers (4) - Ghazi Ghori (Sindh), Haseebullah (Balochistan), Mohammad Raza-ul-Mustafa (Northern) and Salman Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

Fast bowlers (7) - Ahmed Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Asim Ali (Sindh), Aurangzeb (Balochistan), Awais Abbas (Southern Punjab), Muneeb Wasif (Central Punjab), Tahir Hussain (Southern Punjab) and Zeeshan Zameer (Sindh)

Spinners (8) - Adeel Meo (Sindh), Ali Asfand (Central Punjab), Aaliyan Mehmood (Sindh), Arham Nawab (Central Punjab), Faisal Akram (Southern Punjab), Ismail Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mehran Mumtaz (Northern) and Talha Ahsan (Sindh)
 
Please tell me its not the same fahad munir. Why are the likes of irfan Khan and abdul wahid in the list the have been playing 1st 11 cricket. Idiotic.
 
Forgot to add tahir hussain and mohammed Shehzad. So nearly half of the actual squad may have same the same players from the previous World Cup.
 
1. Maaz Sadaqat
2. Abdul Wahid Bangalzai
3. Abdul Faseeh
4. Mubashar Ali
5. Mohammad Waqas
6. Ghazi Ghouri (wk)
7. Ahmed Khan
8. Aaliyan Mehmood
9. Aurangzeb
10. Zeeshan Zameer
11. Faisal Akram

Bench: Adeel Meo, Qasim Akram, Abbas Ali

These are the top performers. Everyone else is tertiary
 
1. Maaz Sadaqat
2. Abdul Wahid Bangalzai
3. Abdul Faseeh
4. Mubashar Ali
5. Mohammad Waqas
6. Ghazi Ghouri (wk)
7. Ahmed Khan
8. Aaliyan Mehmood
9. Aurangzeb
10. Zeeshan Zameer
11. Faisal Akram

Bench: Adeel Meo, Qasim Akram, Abbas Ali

These are the top performers. Everyone else is tertiary

Are u happy with the squad and any notable exclusions? Rate each one plz 🙏 how does it compare to previous additions?
 
Ahmed Khan is one talented fast bowler. Don't know how much he has grown (height) in last few years.
 
Are u happy with the squad and any notable exclusions? Rate each one plz 🙏 how does it compare to previous additions?

It’s almost surprising for me to say there aren’t any notable exclusions. I followed the tournament closely and every top performer is there.

I haven’t seen the fast bowlers so can’t comment on things like speed and height, but they all performed in the recent tournaments. Notably, Zeeshan Zameer just got recruited for the Abu Dhabi T10 by Mushtaq Ahmed for the Deccan Gladiators, indicating that he’s highly rated. We’ll have to see for ourselves in January. Ahmed Khan is talented, and has been groomed for a few years now (part of the U16 team). Not sure if he’s grown taller, but he was a tall 15 year old. He can bat too.

The batting lineup is one of the best in years, much better than last time where it completely relied on Haider Ali and Rohail Nazir and the rest were okay/parchis. Even now, some of those same folks are there like Fahad Munir, Irfan Niazi, and Muhammad Shehzad who I don’t rate, though I’d be happy to be proven wrong. Excluding them, the names that are present are worth paying attention to. The best batsmen here are Abdul Faseeh and Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, and I’d have added Mubasir Khan and Saim Ayub too if they were young enough.

Maaz Sadaqat is an interesting case. On paper he’s only 15, and has some very good performances with the bat but also contributes with the ball. Possibly a case of age fudging, but if we assume everyone age fudges, he’d still be younger than the people who are 17 on paper. I don’t like sidetracking discussions with people’s age, so I’ll say that even if he was 18, he’d make the team on merit with the bat alone. Add in the fact that he’s right now one of the top wicket takers in the second XI One Day Cup.

Ghazi Ghouri and Haseebullah Khan are the only wicket keepers from the four mentioned who can bat, with Ghazi the better shorter formats keeper while Haseeb is technically more compact and knows how to play long innings. It’s good to see keepers coming through the ranks, that too 2 at a time (Azam and Umair, Haris and Rohail, Ghazi and Haseeb).

Mohammad Waqas plays at number 5 and has a good finisher’s temperament, coming in the middle order to save or win games for his team in the U19 tournament. Haven’t seen his technique.

Adeel Meo and Faisal Akram are very good spinners - Faisal might get picked for the Multan Sultans this year, or when Imran Tahir retires. Adeel can bat too. They’re both SLAO spinners, while Aaliyan Mehmood and Arham Nawab are deceptive off spinners but lack as much control. That’s fair, since they’re still young.

I’m pretty happy with the names announced. There are 3-4 names I’m not sure why are there, but the rest of the 27 names are the best in the U19 circuit, on a meritocratic basis.

If even 1-2 turn out to be international quality, I’d be happy.
 
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It’s almost surprising for me to say there aren’t any notable exclusions. I followed the tournament closely and every top performer is there.

I haven’t seen the fast bowlers so can’t comment on things like speed and height, but they all performed in the recent tournaments. Notably, Zeeshan Zameer just got recruited for the Abu Dhabi T10 by Mushtaq Ahmed for the Deccan Gladiators, indicating that he’s highly rated. We’ll have to see for ourselves in January. Ahmed Khan is talented, and has been groomed for a few years now (part of the U16 team). Not sure if he’s grown taller, but he was a tall 15 year old. He can bat too.

The batting lineup is one of the best in years, much better than last time where it completely relied on Haider Ali and Rohail Nazir and the rest were okay/parchis. Even now, some of those same folks are there like Fahad Munir, Irfan Niazi, and Muhammad Shehzad who I don’t rate, though I’d be happy to be proven wrong. Excluding them, the names that are present are worth paying attention to. The best batsmen here are Abdul Faseeh and Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, and I’d have added Mubasir Khan and Saim Ayub too if they were young enough.

Maaz Sadaqat is an interesting case. On paper he’s only 15, and has some very good performances with the bat but also contributes with the ball. Possibly a case of age fudging, but if we assume everyone age fudges, he’d still be younger than the people who are 17 on paper. I don’t like sidetracking discussions with people’s age, so I’ll say that even if he was 18, he’d make the team on merit with the bat alone. Add in the fact that he’s right now one of the top wicket takers in the second XI One Day Cup.

Ghazi Ghouri and Haseebullah Khan are the only wicket keepers from the four mentioned who can bat, with Ghazi the better shorter formats keeper while Haseeb is technically more compact and knows how to play long innings. It’s good to see keepers coming through the ranks, that too 2 at a time (Azam and Umair, Haris and Rohail, Ghazi and Haseeb).

Mohammad Waqas plays at number 5 and has a good finisher’s temperament, coming in the middle order to save or win games for his team in the U19 tournament. Haven’t seen his technique.

Adeel Meo and Faisal Akram are very good spinners - Faisal might get picked for the Multan Sultans this year, or when Imran Tahir retires. Adeel can bat too. They’re both SLAO spinners, while Aaliyan Mehmood and Arham Nawab are deceptive off spinners but lack as much control. That’s fair, since they’re still young.

I’m pretty happy with the names announced. There are 3-4 names I’m not sure why are there, but the rest of the 27 names are the best in the U19 circuit, on a meritocratic basis.

If even 1-2 turn out to be international quality, I’d be happy.

Great informative post mate...I remember watching Ahmed Khan and his beautiful bowling action. What do u think of this:


17 years old Muhammad Faizan Zaffar from Layyah Scored 355 runs with an average of 88.75 , 3 fifties and 1 century too. 3rd highest scorer in U-19 Three day tournament. His date of birth is 24-03-2003. Not selected for WC2022 probables !

Its Fair or Unfair? Your opinion. 🤔
 
Great informative post mate...I remember watching Ahmed Khan and his beautiful bowling action. What do u think of this:


17 years old Muhammad Faizan Zaffar from Layyah Scored 355 runs with an average of 88.75 , 3 fifties and 1 century too. 3rd highest scorer in U-19 Three day tournament. His date of birth is 24-03-2003. Not selected for WC2022 probables !

Its Fair or Unfair? Your opinion. 🤔

Fair. Let me explain. He scored in the three day tournament, but it only makes sense that the squad for the U19 World Cup (which is 50 overs format) should be selected on basis of shorter format performances.

Here are his stats in the one day tournament: 75 runs in 8 innings at an average of 10.71. Highest score was 36. There were 44 batsmen who scored more than him, and some of those 44 batsmen were tailenders playing at 7 or 8.

I had noted his name too from the 3 day tournament, and I’m glad you pointed him out. I hope he continues to perform well in second XI cricket and later first XI cricket rather than get lost in the system. But he does not deserve to be in the U19 World Cup squad, that’s my opinion and I’m sure the selectors had the same opinion.
 
Ya Allah, can we discover another Babar and Aamir soon. Pakistan cricket seems so boring nowadays.
 
It’s almost surprising for me to say there aren’t any notable exclusions. I followed the tournament closely and every top performer is there.

I haven’t seen the fast bowlers so can’t comment on things like speed and height, but they all performed in the recent tournaments. Notably, Zeeshan Zameer just got recruited for the Abu Dhabi T10 by Mushtaq Ahmed for the Deccan Gladiators, indicating that he’s highly rated. We’ll have to see for ourselves in January. Ahmed Khan is talented, and has been groomed for a few years now (part of the U16 team). Not sure if he’s grown taller, but he was a tall 15 year old. He can bat too.

The batting lineup is one of the best in years, much better than last time where it completely relied on Haider Ali and Rohail Nazir and the rest were okay/parchis. Even now, some of those same folks are there like Fahad Munir, Irfan Niazi, and Muhammad Shehzad who I don’t rate, though I’d be happy to be proven wrong. Excluding them, the names that are present are worth paying attention to. The best batsmen here are Abdul Faseeh and Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, and I’d have added Mubasir Khan and Saim Ayub too if they were young enough.

Maaz Sadaqat is an interesting case. On paper he’s only 15, and has some very good performances with the bat but also contributes with the ball. Possibly a case of age fudging, but if we assume everyone age fudges, he’d still be younger than the people who are 17 on paper. I don’t like sidetracking discussions with people’s age, so I’ll say that even if he was 18, he’d make the team on merit with the bat alone. Add in the fact that he’s right now one of the top wicket takers in the second XI One Day Cup.

Ghazi Ghouri and Haseebullah Khan are the only wicket keepers from the four mentioned who can bat, with Ghazi the better shorter formats keeper while Haseeb is technically more compact and knows how to play long innings. It’s good to see keepers coming through the ranks, that too 2 at a time (Azam and Umair, Haris and Rohail, Ghazi and Haseeb).

Mohammad Waqas plays at number 5 and has a good finisher’s temperament, coming in the middle order to save or win games for his team in the U19 tournament. Haven’t seen his technique.

Adeel Meo and Faisal Akram are very good spinners - Faisal might get picked for the Multan Sultans this year, or when Imran Tahir retires. Adeel can bat too. They’re both SLAO spinners, while Aaliyan Mehmood and Arham Nawab are deceptive off spinners but lack as much control. That’s fair, since they’re still young.

I’m pretty happy with the names announced. There are 3-4 names I’m not sure why are there, but the rest of the 27 names are the best in the U19 circuit, on a meritocratic basis.

If even 1-2 turn out to be international quality, I’d be happy.

Faisal Akram is a left arm wrist spinner, not a left arm orthodox.
 
I've been watching Qasim Akram in the National T20 and the Quaid-e-Azam trophy. He looked older to me than his reported age above, so I was surprised to see he would qualify for the 2022 tournament.
 
I've been watching Qasim Akram in the National T20 and the Quaid-e-Azam trophy. He looked older to me than his reported age above, so I was surprised to see he would qualify for the 2022 tournament.

It is as big of a joke as Rashid Khan.
 
Mohammad Yousuf is going to be working with the U19 kids starting from January 4.

His focus based on a meeting with Nadeem Khan is on improving their basics, specifically balance at the crease, getting into a good position for the ball, and ensuring their techniques are compact.

Excited to see him work with Abdul Faseeh, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Maaz Sadaqat, and the rest.
 
Mohammad Yousuf is going to be working with the U19 kids starting from January 4.

His focus based on a meeting with Nadeem Khan is on improving their basics, specifically balance at the crease, getting into a good position for the ball, and ensuring their techniques are compact.

Excited to see him work with Abdul Faseeh, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Maaz Sadaqat, and the rest.

Batting is all about balance. It is the fundemental to your batting against fast bowling. Our batsmen are so used to low bounce pitch hence transfer of weight forward before the the delievery is bowled, most of them bat like rabbits against back of the lenght on supportive pitches
 
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