Daily Times

RAWALPINDI: Five players were loaned to three sides for the remaining 25 matches of the National T20 2020-21 after deliberations between the head coaches of the six First XI Cricket Association teams on Monday. Balochistan, who are placed fifth in the six-team points table with one win, have strengthened their top-order with the inclusion of Abdullah Shafique and Sohail Akhtar. Abdullah, 21, started his T20 career with a century in the 2020 edition of the National T20 and averages 39.90. The right-handed batsman has accumulated 399 runs at a strike-rate of above 130. Sohail has one century and six half-centuries in the format and has made 1,571 runs, to date.

Balochistan’s decision to take leg-spinner Mohammad Mohsin onboard has come in the wake of an an injury to Yasir Shah who has been ruled out of the tournament for at least next 10 days. Yasir sustained a hairline fracture in his right hand during his side’s victory against Southern Punjab on Sunday after he was hit by the ball. Central Punjab have opted for 22-year-old Sameen Gul, who has snared 27 T20 wickets at 29.48 runs apiece to provide the youngster an opportunity to display his skills and talent in front of the HD-broadcast cameras, which are beaming the National T20 action across the globe through traditional and new media. Southern Punjab have added further enhanced their spin-bowling arsenal with the inclusion of leg-spinner Usama Mir, who is four shy or breaching the 50-T20-wicket milestone. The process was overlooked by Muhammad Wasim, the national men’s chief selector, and High Performance Director Nadeem Khan. The National T20 will resume on Wednesday after two-day gap with the top-ranked Sindh playing Balochistan and fourth-placed Northern taking on bottom-placed Southern Punjab.

Loaned players:

To Balochistan: Abdullah Shafique (from Central Punjab), Mohammad Mohsin (not in any squad), Sohail Akhtar (from Northern)

To Central Punjab: Sameen Gul (from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

To Southern Punjab: Usama Mir (not in any squad).