A Pakistan-A cricket team will play against a cricket team from Qatar in an international Twenty20 match at the Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday (today).
Minister for Sports and Education Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan will be the chief guest at the match being as part of the Punjab Youth Festival. The match was originally scheduled for Monday due to rain.
The match is now scheduled to start at noon, following aerobics and gymnastic shows. During the interval, a cultural performance will also be held. Entry to the stadium will be free.
Special security measures have been taken for the guest team. Hundreds of police officials will be deputed at and around the stadium to prevent an untoward incident. Metal detectors and walk-through gates would be used to screen those approaching the stadium.
The Punjab Sports Board (SBP) Director General Usman Anwar visited the Gaddafi Stadium on Tuesday to review the security arrangements.
Anwar said the spectators should be provided best available facilities. He said he hoped more international cricket teams visited Pakistan.
Pakistan has been unable to convince any of the top cricket teams to a home series matches since the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in March 2009. Pakistan cricket team has been playing on ‘neutral venues’ in Sri Lanka, England and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for over five years.
Pakistan-A: Sami Aslam (captain), Ameer Hamza, Hasan Raza, Hussain Talat, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Rafiq, Irfanullah Shah, Kamran Ghulam, Karamat Ali, M Aftab, Saifullah Khan, Salman Saeed, Saud Shakeel, Zafar Gohar and Ziaul Haq.
Qatar Squad: Awais Malik (captain), Muhammad Rizlan, Khurram Shehzad, Syed Abbas Shah, Naeem Shoukat Bhatti, Noman Sarwar, Omran Hussain, Tuan Razak Marso, Uzair Amir, Talal Khan, Mansoor Khalid, Omer Sayeed, Muhammad Amanullah Khan, Rafiqul Islam, Adil Rehman, Muhammad Sohail, Obaid Yahya, Muhammad Mirza, Hamad Mirza, Jahangir Ehsan and Muhammad Jahangir.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 26th, 2014.