KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) is set to hire cricketers who lost their job after United Bank Limited (UBL) decided to disband their cricket team. UBL’s decision was announced last month left many cricketers jobless. However, there is good news for the players who lost their job because NBP is willing to hire them on the urgent basis. NBP had a poor run in the last domestic season and are looking for better performance this time around. For that, they hired Iqbal Qasim on instant basis who left the role of the head of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s high performance center. The players who are likely to be hired include Test opener Shan Masood, all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz, middle-order batsman Saad Ali and left-arm pacer Rumman Raees. Sources also confirmed that the players are expected to receive their appointment letter this week. During the last season, UBL managed to win six out of seven pool matches and also went to claim victories in two matches at the super-eight stage as well. On the other hand, NBP failed to qualify for the super-eight stage after managing to win one and facing four defeats in the seven matches they played. Since UBL will not be taking part in the upcoming edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, it is likely that they will be replaced by NBP. Published in Daily Times, July 27th 2018.