PCB unveils pre-season camp, Pakistan Shaheens' tour to Darwin

Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board on Saturday announced details of the pre-season fitness and fielding camp, and Pakistan Shaheens’ training camp, which would be held at Karachi’s Hanif Mohammad High Performance Centre.

The pre-season camp, which would be attended by 25 cricketers, would take place from 24 June to 7 July. The squad would be trimmed to 15-member Pakistan Shaheens squad that would undergo a training camp from 8-13 July to prepare for their tour to Darwin.

In Darwin, Pakistan Shaheens would play two four-day matches against Bangladesh ‘A’, two 50-over matches against Northern Territory and Bangladesh, and also participate in the nine-team Top End T20 Series.

Pakistan red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie would supervise the Pakistan Shaheens’ training camp from 8-13 July and will also travel to Darwin as the team’s head coach. He will return to Pakistan after the second four-day match against Bangladesh ‘A’, which finishes on 29 July, to assume responsibilities as the national side’s head coach and commence preparations for the two-Test series against Bangladesh.

The pre-season fitness and fielding camp will be supervised by Mohammad Masroor, who will also travel to Darwin as Assistant Coach-cum-Manager. Abdul Rehman will be the white-ball head coach and will join the Pakistan Shaheens side on 28 July for the two 50-over and Top End T20 Series matches from 4-18 August.

National team players presently involved in competitive cricket in the United Kingdom and those who recently participated in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 have been exempted from the pre-season fitness and fielding camp.

Following are the players invited by the national selection committee for the pre-season fitness and fielding camp as well as the Pakistan Shaheen squad:

Players for pre-season fitness and fielding camp - Abdullah Shafique, Faisal Akram, Haseebullah, Hunain Shah, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Kashif Ali, Khurram Shahzad, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Mubasir Khan, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Sameen Gul, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tayyab Tahir, Umar Amin, Usman Qadir and Zahid Mahmood. One more player will be added to the camp next week

Pakistan Shaheens - Haseebullah, Hunain Shah, Kamran Ghulam, Kashif Ali, Khurram Shahzad, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Huraira, Mubasir Khan, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tayyab Tahir and Umar Amin. Captain and one more player will be confirmed in due course

Player Support Personnel – Jason Gillespie (head coach for red-ball matches, will also supervise camp from 8-13 July), Abdul Rehman (head coach for white-ball matches and will join the side on 28 July), Mohammad Masroor (Assistant coach-cum-manager and camp commandant from 24 June-7 July), Mohammad Asad (physiotherapist), Imranullah (trainer) and Usman Hashmi (analyst).

ABOUT THE DARWIN TOUR:

This is the second successive year Pakistan Shaheens will feature in the Darwin series.

Last year, Pakistan Shaheens participated in the six-team Top End T20 Series, which was followed by 50-over matches against Papua New Guinea (PNG) and NT Strike. NT Strike had defeated Shaheens in the Top End T20 Series final by 46 runs, while in the 50-over matches, Pakistan Shaheens beat PNG by 224 runs and Northern Strike by 84 runs.

The two four-dayers are part of bilateral series fixtures, which Northern Territory Cricket (NTC) are hosting on behalf of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). The PCB is scheduled to host Bangladesh A at home in August.

PCB Director International Cricket, Usman Wahla:

“I am grateful to Northern Territory for inviting the Pakistan Shaheens for the second successive year. Last year, the players had a memorable experience and enjoyed playing and performing in excellent playing conditions, in front of enthusiastic cricket fans.

“This year we have added red-ball cricket matches to give more exposure to our cricketers and I am confident the players will benefit from this tour and will return as better cricketers.”

Schedule (all matches in Darwin)

14 Jul – Arrival in Darwin

19-22 Jul – Four-day vs Bangladesh ‘A’

26-29 Jul – Four-day vs Bangladesh ‘A’

4 Aug – 50-over match vs Northern Territory (NT)

6 Aug – 50 over match vs Bangladesh ‘A’

9-18 Aug - nine-team Top End T20 Series