Demoted Razzaq severs ties with Lahore Lions

Abdul Razzaq has refused to represent Lahore Lions in the upcoming RBS Twenty20 Cup, choosing instead to join an already powerful Sialkot Stallions side, after he was overlooked for the captaincy of his hometown team.

Razzaq had been selected by Lahore for this season's tournament, which begins from February 28 in Karachi. But unlike the last two seasons he turned out for the Lions, in 2006 and 2009, he was overlooked for the captaincy, the Lahore association opting for Salman Butt instead. The move irked Razzaq, more so given that he took the side to the final last year with a string of explosive performances that led to his own comeback into the national side.

"I spoke with the Lahore Association to ask why I had been dropped as the captain of the Lions," Razzaq told Cricistan.com. "I wanted to play for my native Lahore so I asked them to give me a merit-based reason for replacing me as the captain. I told them that I had no problem with being replaced as captain if they could give me a good reason for doing it.

"I reminded them that I'd taken the Lions to the semi-finals and the final of the last two T20 cups I had played. The association refused to give me any merit-based reasons and they told me that they didn't have to justify themselves to anyone. They said their decision was final and that I had to accept it."

There are other surprising big-name moves in the 13 city sides due to take part in what is the PCB's most successful and popular domestic event. Mohammad Yousuf, another Lions fixture, will be turning out for Islamabad Leopards instead, under the leadership of Shoaib Akhtar. Yousuf has long sought to prove that he can be a successful Twenty20 player and though he captained the Lions side in 2008, he was left out of their squad this year.

The Peshawar Panthers will also be without a number of regulars, such as Younis Khan, Yasir Hameed and Riffatullah Mohmand. The trio has switched to Abbottabad Rhinos instead. Younis's participation is still not certain, however. The Panthers will be led by former Test bowler Riaz Afridi and still have Umar Gul in their squad.

Karachi Dolphins: Mohammad Sami (capt), Shahid Afridi, Shaharyar Ghani, Khalid Latif, Shahzaib Hasan, Fawad Alam, Afsar Nawaz, Sohail Khan, Sarfraz Ahmed, Tanvir Ahmed, Ramiz Aziz, Azam Hussain, Fahadullah, Infanuddin, Tariq Haroon, Adnan Baig, Tahir Khan, Fahad Iqbal, Agha Sabir, Rumman Raees

Karachi Zebras: Danish Kaneria (capt), Asad Shafiq, Khurram Manzoor, Faisal Iqbal, Akbar Rehman, Hassan Raza, Nomanullah, Babar Rehman, Tabish Khan, Anwar Ali, Farhan Iqbal, Mohammad Waqas, Ali Asad, Haris Ayaz, Adnan Malik, Daniyal Ahsan, Javed Mansoor, Misbah Khan, Shan Masood

Quetta Region: Shoaib Khan, Mujeed Khan, Taimour Ali (capt), Manzoor Badini, Sabir Khosa, Bismillah Khan, Arun Lal, Nasrullah Khan, Jalat Khan, Nazar Hussain, Arshad Khan, Taimour Khan, Khalil Ahmed, Naushad Irshad, Taimour Mengal, Munir Ahmed, Talib Hussain, Abdul Jabbar, Mohammad Asif, Abdul Rehman

Islamabad Leopards: Rao Iftikhar, Shoaib Akhtar (capt), Raheel Majeed, Umair Khan, Naeem Anjum, Sarmad Bhatti, Azhar Mahmood, Zohaib Ahmed, Fayyaz Ahmed, Rana Shahzad Azam, Kamran Hussain, Fakhar Hussain, Mohammad Yousuf, Umair Mir, Faizan Riaz, Ameer Khan, Junaid Nadir, Ali Sarfraz, Irfan Talib

Rawalpindi Rams: Babar Naeem, Naveed Malik, Hammad Azam, Usman Saeed, Naveed Qureshi (capt), Zahid Mansoor, Adnan Mufti, Umer Amin, Jamal Anwar, Yasim Murtaza, Asif Mumtaz, Muhammad Ramiz, Sohail Tanvir, Muhammad Amir, Yasir Arafat, Sadaf Hussain, Fawad Hussain, Rizwan Akbar, Muhammad Ayaz, Muzamal Nizam

Multan Tigers: Abdul Rauf (capt), Waqas Sharif, Saeed Anwar jnr, Rameez Alam, Muhammad Irfan, Zulfiqar Babar, Kashif Naveed, Gulraiz Sadaf, Ansar Javaid, Ahmed Raza, Shahid Abbasi, Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Ali, Ali Niazi, Shahid Akram, Junaid Iqbal, Rizwan Haider, Taimoor Dogar, Shahid Iqbal, Ali Moazzam

Abbottabad Rhinos: Younas Khan (capt), Yasir Hameed, Riffatullah Mommand, Adnan Raees, Wajid Ali, Ghulam Muhammad, Fawad Khan, Riaz Kail, Junaid Khan, Khalid Usman, Mir Azam Khan, Zeeshan Khan Jadoon, Umair Khan, Farooq Ahmed, Yasir Shah, Muhammad Naeem, Asif Afridi, Mohammad Sami, Sajjad Ali

Hyderabad Hawks: Shahid Qambrani (capt), Mir Ali Talpur, Zeeshan Gul, Ghulam Shabbir Solangi, Muhammad Awais, Lal Kumar, Adnan Brohi, Sharjeel Khan, Rizwan Ahmad, Ghulam Yasin, Zahid Mahmood, Kashif Bhatti, Azeem Ghumman, Muhammad Urs, Ayaz Brohi, Mashooq Bhutto, Aqeel Anjum, Rehan Nizamuddin, Ayaz Jamal, Nasarullah Memon

Lahore Lions: Salman Butt (capt), Kamran Akmal, Nasir Jamshed, Umar Akmal, Adnan Raza, Sohail Ahmad, Kashif Siddique, Waqas Ahmad, Wahab Riaz, Imran Ali, Aizaz Bin Ilyas Cheema, Usman Malik, Salman Qadir, Aamir Hayat, Azhar Ali, Tanzeel Altaf, Hamza Mubeen, Fahad Masood, Hamza Paracha, Shoaib Akram

Lahore Eagles: Imran Farhat, Taufiq Umar, Aamir Sajjad, Khaqan Arsalan, Jahangir Mirza, Kamran Sajjid, Humayun Farhat (capt), Abil Ali, Muhammad Irshad, Muhammad Khalil, Muhammad Naveed, Hafiz Saad Nasim, Ali Azmat, Imad Ali, Arslan Mir, Shahnawaz Malik, Wasim Khan, Muhammad Zuhaib, Asif Raza, Jamshaid Ahmad

Peshawar Panthers: Riaz Afridi (capt), Umar Gul, Jan Nissar, Zohaib Khan, Aftab Khan, Shakeel ur Rehman, Zulfaqar Jan, Fawad Ali, Adil Amin, Sajjad Ahmed Jan, Hammad ul Hasan, Israrullah, Azam Jan, Idrees Khan, Imran Khan, M. Asif Khan, Azam Khan, Kashif Hayat, Jamal ud Din, Mehfooz Sabri

Faisalabad Wolves: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Shahid Nazir, Muhammad Hafeez, Naveed Latif, Zeeshan Asif, Usman Arshad, Khurram Shahzad, Ijaz Ahmad jnr, Ali Waqas, Muhammad Salman, Muhammad Asif Hussain, Muhammad Asif, Ali Raza, Muhammad Talha, Samiullah khan Niazi, Asad Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Imran Khalid, Ahmad Hayat, Muhammad Shahid

Sialkot Stallions: Shoaib Malik (capt), Imran Nazir, Muhammad Asif, Rana Naved, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Kamran Younis, Shakeel Ansar, Abdul Rehman, Shahid Yousaf, Mansoor Amjad, Qaisar Abbas, Adeel Malik, Hafiz Majid, Abdul Razzaq, Muhammad Saeed, Faisal Naveed, M. Ayub Doggar, Naeemuddin, Shehzad Malik, Sheikh Haris Sohail