Haris to captain Pakistan Shaheens’ white-ball side in Darwin

Staff Report

 LAHORE: Mohammad Haris has been appointed as Pakistan Shaheens white-ball captain for the two 50-over matches and nine-team Top End T20 series to be played from August 4-18 in Darwin, Australia. Haris last captained Pakistan Shaheens in the ACC Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2023 in Colombo. In the final, Pakistan Shaheens defeated India by 128 runs to successfully defend the title. Pakistan Shaheens are already in Darwin for two four-day matches against Bangladesh ‘A’ from July 19-22 and July 26-29. Shaheens’ 50-over matches will be against Northern Territory (NT) and Bangladesh ‘A’ on August 4 and 6, respectively before the T20 series commences on August 9. Other participating teams in the T20 series are ACT Comets, Bangladesh ‘A’, Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars, Perth Scorchers, Northern Territory Strike, Adelaide Strikers and Tasmania.

For the white-ball matches, seven changes have been made from the red-ball side. Abdul Faseeh, Arafat Minhas, Arif Yaqoob, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Imran Jnr and Usman Khan will replace Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Ali, Mubasir Khan, Tayyab Tahir and Umar Amin. Pakistan Shaheens will feature in the Darwin series for the second successive year. Last year, NT Strike had defeated Shaheens in the Top End T20 Series final by 46 runs, before Pakistan Shaheens beat PNG by 224 runs and Northern Strike by 84 runs in the two One-day matches.

Squad:

Mohammad Haris (captain), Abdul Faseeh, Arafat Minhas, Arif Yaqoob, Faisal Akram, Haseebullah (wicketkeeper/batter), Muhammad Irfan Khan, Jahandad Khan, Kashif Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Omair bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Khan.

Player Support Personnel: Abdul Rehman (head coach), Mohammad Masroor (Assistant coach-cum-manager), Mohammad Asad (physiotherapist), Imranullah (trainer) and Usman Hashmi (analyst).

Schedule of white-ball matches

Aug 4– 50-over match vs Northern Territory (NT)

Aug 6– 50 over match vs Bangladesh ‘A’

Aug 10 – vs Perth Scorchers (Top End T20 Series)

Aug 11– vs Melbourne Stars (Top End T20 Series)

Aug 13– vs Tasmania (Top End T20 Series)

Aug 15– vs Melbourne Renegades (Top End T20 Series)

Aug 16– vs Bangladesh ‘A’ (Top End T20 Series)

Aug 17– vs ACT Comets (Top End T20 Series).