File photo of Pakistan cricket team.© AFP
Pakistan has begun its preparations for next year’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka by launching a player improvement, scouting and grooming program named ‘Strike Force’, which begins on January 13 in Lahore. Initially this program was presided over by all the former players of Pakistan. -Rounder Abdul Razzaq was to focus on scouting young talents with the potential to develop into power-hitters to suit the demands of the shortest format of the game. “That was the idea initially, but, due to logistical challenges we decided to launch the Strike Force program by organizing a 90-day special camp for 25 players who have already played for Pakistan, either domestically or under- Have performed well at the Under-19 level or in T20 leagues in the country,” said Abdullah Khurram, head of the PCB’s domestic cricket department.
“The phase starting from the 13th under Razzaq’s supervision will see how many players can be shortlisted for specific roles in the T20 team,” he said.
He said that going forward Razzaq will monitor domestic T20 events and will also travel across the country to scout raw talent from local events.
For the upcoming camp, the PCB has called up batsmen like Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Usman Khan and Azam Khan, who have represented Pakistan without much success. It will also include players who have had notable performances in domestic T20 and ODI events like Abdul Samad, Saad Masood, Khawaja Nafe, Mubashir Khan, Hasan Nawaz, Imran Randhawa, Muhammad Akhlaq, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Muhammad Faiq and Muhammad Faizan.
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