LAHORE: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will defend their National T20 title under the leadership of Khalid Usman as the all-rounder has been announced the captain of the winners of the 2020 and 2021 editions. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have had an impressive run in the last two editions of the tournament, winning 15 off 24 matches, and will be eager to continue their form when they open their campaign on August 31, the second day of the tournament, against Central Punjab. Another tournament win will further stamp Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a T20 powerhouse, embellish their trophy cabinet with the prestigious silverware and another PKR5million in their bank account. All-rounder Faheem Ashraf takes the reins of Central Punjab, the runners up of the previous edition, who will lock horns with Yasir Shah-captained Balochistan in the second match of the tournament on the National T20 opening day (August 30). The tournament will begin with what promises to be a thriller with Saud Shakeel’s Sindh taking on Hasan Ali’s Southern Punjab. Northern, the home side, will begin their campaign on September 1 and will be captained by top-order batter Umar Amin. The squads, both for the National T20 and Cricket Associations T20 have been finalised by national men’s chief selector, Muhammad Wasim, in consultation with the six Cricket Associations. The selectors have ensured that the players on the fringes of the national side get the opportunities to continue to push their case for the national selection and this summer’s top performers in the City Cricket Association and Divisional tournaments climb another rung. The National T20 will be played in two legs with Pindi Cricket Stadium playing host to first 16 of the 33 matches from August 30 till September 7. Multan Cricket Stadium will stage the second leg between September 10 and 19. To ensure the players participating in the tournament get their due share of exposure and the fans get to enjoy the action-packed matches, the double-headers from August 30 till September 11 have been scheduled in a manner that they do not clash with the ACC Asia Cup T20. The first match of the day will commence on 0930 and the second will begin at 1400. From September 12, the first of the two matches will start at 1500, while the second will begin at 1930. As the Pakistan Cricket Board continues to incentivise domestic performers, PKR0.4million will be shared equally between the tournament’s top performers (player of the tournament, best batter of the tournament, best bowler of the tournament and best wicketkeeper of the tournament). The best performer of every match will get PKR25,000 and the player of the final will bag PKR35,000. The team ending second in the tournament will get PKR2.5million. The head coaches of the first XI teams for the 2022-23 domestic season are: Mushtaq Ahmed (Balochistan), Abdul Razzaq (Central Punjab), Abdul Rehman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Ijaz Ahmed Snr (Northern), Ghulam Ali (Sindh) and Shahid Anwar (Southern Punjab). First XI squads: Balochistan: Yasir Shah (c), Shan Masood (vc), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Akif Javed, Ali Waqas, Amad Butt, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Haseebullah (wk), Hussain Talat, Junaid Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Junaid and Sajjad Ali. Central Punjab: Faheem Ashraf (c), Abdullah Shafique (vc), Ahmed Shehzad, Ahmed Daniyal, Ali Asfand, Hunain Shah, Irfan Khan Niazi, Junaid Ali (wk), Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Faizan, Qasim Akram, Shoaib Malik, Tayyab Tahir, Usama Mir and Wahab Riaz Northern: Umar Amin (c), Ali Imran (vc), Aamer Jamal, Hassan Nawaz, Mehran Mumtaz, Mubasir Khan, Mohammad Huraira, Nasir Nawaz, Rohail Nazir (wk), Salman Irshad, Shoaib Amir, Sohail Tanvir, Umer Khan, Usman Khan Shinwari and Zaman Khan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Khalid Usman (c), Kamran Ghulam (vc), Adil Amin, Aamer Azmat, Arshad Iqbal, Asif Afridi, Ihsanullah, Imran Khan Snr, Israrullah, Maaz khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Sarwar Afridi, Mohammad Amir Khan and Sahibzada Farhan. Sindh: Saud Shakeel (c), Mir Hamza (vc), Abrar Ahmed, Anwar Ali, Asif Mahmood, Danish Aziz, Omair Bin Yousuf, Rumman Raees, Saad Khan, Saim Ayub, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Sharjeel Khan, Syed Faraz Ali, Zahid Mehmood and Zeeshan Zameer. Southern Punjab: Hasan Ali (c), Salman Ali Agha (vc), Ahmad Bashir, Ali Majid, Amir Yamin, Faisal Akram, Hassan Khan, Mohammad Imran Randhawa, Moinuddin, Mohammad Ilyas, Sameen Gul, Sharoon Siraj, Sohaib Maqsood, Zain Abbas and Zeeshan Ashraf (wk).