Haris to lead Shaheens in limited-over games in Darwin

Mohammad Haris has been named the white-ball captain for Pakistan Shaheens for the two 50-over matches and the nine-team Top End T20 series, scheduled from August 4-18 in Darwin, Australia.

Haris previously captained Pakistan Shaheens in the ACC Men’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2023 in Colombo, where they triumphed over India by 128 runs in the final to retain the title.

Pakistan Shaheens are currently in Darwin for two four-day matches against Bangladesh ‘A’ from July 19-22 and July 26-29. Their 50-over matches will be against Northern Territory (NT) on August 4 and Bangladesh ‘A’ on August 6, before the T20 series starts on August 9. Other teams in the T20 series include ACT Comets, Bangladesh ‘A’, Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars, Perth Scorchers, Northern Territory Strike, Adelaide Strikers, and Tasmania.

For the white-ball matches, there have been seven changes from the red-ball squad. Abdul Faseeh, Arafat Minhas, Arif Yaqoob, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Imran Jnr, and Usman Khan will replace Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Ali, Mubasir Khan, Tayyab Tahir, and Umar Amin.

Squad: Mohammad Haris (captain), Abdul Faseeh, Arafat Minhas, Arif Yaqoob, Faisal Akram, Haseebullah (wicketkeeper/batter), Muhammad Irfan Khan, Jahandad Khan, Kashif Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Omair bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Khan

Player Support Personnel: Abdul Rehman (head coach), Mohammad Masroor (Assistant coach-cum-manager), Mohammad Asad (physiotherapist), Imranullah (trainer) and Usman Hashmi (analyst).

PCB hires Aus curator to improve pitches

PCB said on Monday it had hired Australian pitch curator Tony Hemming to improve playing surfaces in the country after facing staunch criticism in back-to-back Test matches.

Pakistan is due to host the International Cricket Council’s Champions Trophy from February 19 to March 9 next year.

“Hemming has been appointed as the new head curator on a two-year contract to prepare pitches for the upcoming five Tests in the home season,” the board said in a statement.

Hemming will oversee pitch preparations ahead of two Tests against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi from August 21 and in Karachi from August 30.

He will also help prepare for three Tests against England in October.