Saad named U19 captain, Imran to lead Shaheens

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board has appointed Saad Baig and Imran Butt as Pakistan U19 and Pakistan Shaheens captains for the upcoming tours of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, respectively.

Karachi-born Saad captained Pakistan U19 last year against Bangladesh U19 in Multan. In that series, Saad scored 117 runs in the four-dayer, 30 runs in the one-day matches and 107 runs in the T20s. In the National U19 three-day Championship 2022-23, the left-hander scored 200 runs, and in the National U19 one-day Cup 2022-23, he scored 299 runs in four matches.

Ali Asfand of Faisalabad, who has been named the vice captain, also featured against Bangladesh in the U19 series last year. He scored 45 runs and took two wickets with his left-arm spinner in the four-dayer, contributed 26 runs and took two wickets in the one-dayers and claimed three wickets in the only T20.

Pakistan Shaheens for the tour of Zimbabwe comprise seven players who have represented Pakistan in international cricket. Imran Butt, who has been named as captain, has featured in six Tests, while the others are: Hussain Talat (one ODI, 18 T20Is), Aamir Jamal (two T20Is), Kamran Ghulam (one ODI), Mir Hamza (three Tests), Sahibzada Farhan (three T20Is) and Shahnawaz Dahani (two ODIs and 11 T20Is).

Pakistan U19: Saad Baig (captain) (Karachi), Ali Asfand (vice-captain) (Faisalabad), Ahmed Hussain (Peshawar), Aimal Khan (Peshawar), Amir Hussain (Rawalpindi), Arafat Minhas (Multan), Azan Awais (Sialkot), Hamza Nawaz (Lahore), Mohammad Ibtisam (Sargodha), Mohammad Ismail (Sahiwal), Mohammad Tahir (Fata), Mohammad Tayyab Arif (Sialkot), Obaid Shahid (Lahore), Sajjad Ali (Lahore), Shahzaib Khan (Mansehra).