HBL forced to field depleted side

Habib Bank Limited (HBL) are forced to field a considerably weakened playing XI when they meet National Bank on Wednesday in what should have been the pick of the matches in the last 16 round of Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship.

Unforeseen circumstances have HBL robbed of eight key players because of national duty. Not only they are lacking the services of Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Saleem Elahi and Taufiq Umar, who are in the World Cup squad, but they will be also without Atiq-uz-Zaman, Danish Kaneria, Imran Farhat and Farhan Adil. The quartet are currently touring United Arab Emirates with the Pakistan 'A' team.

HBL have no alternative but no recall several players who are no longer playing for this pre-quarterfinal tie at National Stadium. Wicket-keeper Tahir Rasheed, now 42 and standing in for Atiq, was a mere spectator in HBL's final fixture of the league round which was badly disrupted by fog.

Batsman Shahid Javed, 34, is also set to play his first game after failing to command a regular place in the last two years.

Test batsman Hasan Raza will be under enormous pressure to lift the morale in HBL's camp.

NBP, on the other hand, no such problems despite the absence of Pakistan captain Waqar Younis, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Sami. Led by Mushtaq Ahmed, the ex-Test leg-spinner, NBP are still a formidable unit with the likes of Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal, Shabbir Ahmed etc in the their ranks.

In that event, the Allied Bank-KRL clash at UBL Sports Complex could be the most keenly-contested affair with both squads well balanced on paper.

ABL, led by former Test off-spinner Arshad Khan, enjoyed a comfortable ride to the last 16 from Group-II with four straight victories.

The Pakistan Customs-Wapda match at KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi is also likely to be close.

Meanwhile, Cricket Management Committee (CMC) has decided to reverse its earlier decision of allowing 16 teams (eight each from departments and associations) to participate in the NBP Patron's Cup one-day tournament.

According to CMC, now all 24 outfits who figured in the preliminary stages of the Quaid Trophy will figure in the competition that begins from Feb 26. The main reason for this change being the severe weather conditions in Punjab which resulted in many games left unfinished.

Schedule of pre-quarterfinal matches in Quaid Trophy (Jan 22-25):

*National Bank v Habib Bank at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Salim Badar and Athar Zaidi. Match referee: Mahmood Rasheed).

*Pakistan Customs v Wapda at KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi (Umpires: Aleem Dar and Nadeem Ghauri. Match referee: Khateeb Rizwan).

*Allied Bank v KRL at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi (Umpires: Shakeel Khan and Riazuddin. Match referee: Munawwar Agha).

*PIA v Bahawalpur at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi (Umpires: M. Nazir Jr and Mian Aslam. Match referee: Khalid Niazi).

*Faisalabad v Sialkot at Bahawalpur Stadium, Bahawalpur (Umpires: Siddique Khan and Rasheed Bhatti. Match referee: Saadat Ali).

*Lahore Whites v Sargodha at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar (Umpires: Z.I. Pasha and Ehtesham-ul-Haq. Match referee: Ishtiaq Ahmed).

*Pak PWD v ZTBL at Aga Khan Gymkhana Ground, Karachi (Umpires: Afzaal Ahmed and Islam Khan. Match referee: Sadiq Mohammad).

*Rawalpindi v Multan at Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan (Umpires: Asad Rauf and Zamir Haider. Match referee: Pervez Akhtar).