For a cause: Exhibition match to feature national cricketers

Afridi, Maqsood and Jamshed confirmed for charity match for IDPs.

KARACHI:

Pakistan’s cricket stars will be in action at exhibition matches hosted by the Government of Punjab before leaving for their tour of Sri Lanka.

The matches will be played under the banner of Sports Board Punjab (SBP), whose target is to generate money for donating to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of North Waziristan.

According to the information gathered by The Express Tribune, the participants will include notable politicians, media celebrities and sportsmen.

As many as four matches, which will be played in Faisalabad, Multan, Rawalpindi and Lahore, are scheduled to take place over the next 10 days.

The first match will be played on July 18 in Rawalpindi, followed by another on the 21st at the Multan Cricket Stadium. The penultimate match of the campaign will be played in Faisalabad on July 24 before the last match in Lahore on July 26.

A match between Pakistan’s national team and the ‘A’ team will reportedly take place on July 26 at the Gaddafi Stadium.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is supporting the cause and chief selector Moin Khan is already in contact with different players to participate in these games.

“The Punjab government has requested us to allow national players to become a part of the noble cause and the PCB has decided to support it,” said a senior PCB official.

“Several international players like Shahid Afridi, Haris Sohail, Sohaib Maqsood, Nasir Jamshed, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Sami and others will participate in these matches, whereas the players who are part of the Pakistan Test squad for Sri Lanka are likely to play in the July 26 match.”

It should be mentioned here that star all-rounder Afridi wanted to host an exhibition match for IDPs as well on July 16 at the Gaddafi Stadium, but the board refused him, citing ground maintenance as the reason.

However, it has been learnt that the PCB ground staff in Lahore is hoping to prepare the pitch before July 26.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 18^th, 2014.

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