Daily Times

LAHORE: The five-team Under-19 T20 Women Cricket Tournament 2023 is all set to commence at the Lahore Country Club in Muridke from Wednesday (today). The tournament promises to showcase the incredible talent and passion of young female cricketers from across the nation. The tournament will feature five teams namely Challengers, Conquerors, Invincibles, Stars and Strikers. The nine-day tournament will be conducted on round-robin basis, meaning each team will play at least four matches. The final will be played on September 21, after the league stage is done. The toss will take place at 0930 PST, while the first ball of the match will be bowled at 1000 PST.

The U19 T20 Women Cricket Tournament serves a perfect opportunity for the players to stake a claim in the national U19 side ahead of Pakistan U19 women’s team maiden tour to Bangladesh in January 2024. To further incentivise the players to bring out their best performances, the PCB has also introduced financial awards to encourage the players to bring out their best. The winning team will receive PKR 0.5 million, while the runner-up will get PKR 0.3 million.

The player of the tournament will be awarded PKR25,000 and each player of the match will receive PKR10,000. The tournament’s top performers – best player, best batter, best bowler and best wicket-keeper – will be gifted kit bags to encourage them to enhance their skills and pursue their cricketing ambitions. The PCB has also finalised the five squads, which consist of 14 players each. These squads have been selected by the national women’s selection committee headed by former Test cricketer Saleem Jaffar after country-wide open trials in eight academies last month. Eleven players have been placed in reserve pool and they can be called up based on a team’s requirement. Only players born on or after September 1, 2004 are eligible to play in the tournament.

Squads:

1: Challengers — Mahnoor Aftab (captain), Aleesha Khan, Ezza Nadeem, Fizza Fiaz, Maheen Irfan, Mirab Amin, Muqadas Bukhari, Noor Mehdi, Raahima Syed, Ravail Farhan, Saba Sher, Sumbal Liaqat, Tanzeela Niaz and Widad Iftikhar. Coaching staff – Waqar Orakzai (head coach), Intikhab Alam (assistant coach), Maria Gulnaz (manager) and Tehreem Sumbal (physio).

2: Conquerors — Zaibun Nisa (captain), Araika Karam, Dina Razvi, Javeria Siddique, Jennifer Basharat, Maham Anees, Malaika Riaz, Memoona Khalid, Muskan Abid, Nasreen Ashraf, Nimra Riaz, Quratulain Ahsen, Rida Aslam and Zainab Ishtiaq. Coaching staff – Zulfiqar Babar (head coach), Jaweria Rauf (assistant coach), Asiya Khan (manager) and Laila Niaz Khan (physio).

3: Invincibles — Haniah Ahmer (captain), Aiza Khan, Hafsa Khan, Haleema Dua Zafar, Humaira, Kainat Gulalai, Khizra Liaqat, Memoona Tippu Sultan, Rimsha Shehzadi, Sana Talib, Sania Rasheed, Tayyaba Imdad, Zarish Farooq Samuel and Zoofishan Ayyaz. Coaching staff – Waseem Yousufi (head coach), Shakir Qayyum (assistant coach), Hajra Baloch (manager) and Izza Idrees (physio).

4: Stars — Laiba Nasir (captain), Anaya Khan, Arooj Mazhar, Fariha Fahim, Kainat Eman Shah, Komal Khan, Maham Ali, Mahnoor Mamoon, Manahil Khursheed, Mubeen Ahmed, Samiya Afsar, Shehr Bano, Tahira Arif and Zainab Asif Jutt. Coaching staff – Mohsin Kamal (head coach), Nahida Khan (assistant coach), Najma Zafar (manager) and Rabia Siddiq (physio).

5: Strikers — Kainat Riasat (Captain), Aiman Arooj, Aleesa Mukhtiar, Aman Fatima, Aqsa Yousuf, Areesha Ansari, Attiya Noor, Esha Tir Razia, Hasnat Ibrahim, Ifrah Tufail, Noor Ul Ain Idrees, Rida Sajid, Sawera Ishaq and Taskyn Fatima. Coaching staff – Hajrwa Sarwar (head coach), Rehmat Gull (assistant coach), Shagufta Kazim (manager) and Rabbia Kamray (physio).

Reserve players — Angelina Khurram, Asma Tauqeer, Eman Liaqat, Kiran Qadir, Mahnaz Bibi, Mahnoor Rani, Meerab Shahid, Qandeel Mohsin, Sana Khan, Widia Iftikhar and Zoha Yousaf.

Tournament schedule (all matches at Lahore Country Club, Muridke) matches begin at 10am:

Sept 13 — Invincibles v Stars (Ground 1); Conquerors v Challengers (Ground 2)

Sep 14 — Stars v Conquerors (Ground 1); Challengers v Strikers (Ground 2)

Sep 16 — Invincibles v Conquerors (Ground 1); Stars v Strikers (Ground 2)

Sep 17 — Invincibles v Strikers (Ground 1); Stars v Challengers (Ground 2)

Sep 19 — Conquerors v Strikers (Ground 1); Invincibles v Challengers (Ground 2)

Sep 21 — Final.