Marylebone Cricket Club team due in Lahore

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) team is due here on Thursday (today), to play three 20-over and one 50-over matches.

This will be MCC's first visit to Pakistan in more than four decades. The last time a Marylebone Cricket Club toured Pakistan was in 1973.

The MCC will open its week-long tour with a 20-over match against Lahore Qalandars at the Gaddafi Stadium on February 14. The visitors will then play a 50-over fixture against Pakistan Shaheens at Aitchison College on February 16. After this, the MCC will play against Northern and Multan Sultans in 20-over matches on February 17 and 19, respectively.

Moreover, five changes have been made in the Pakistan Shaheens' line-up for a 50-over contest against Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) at Aitchison College as HBL PSL franchises have called-up players for the preparations in the lead up to the tournament.

Ehsan Adil, Imran Butt, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Asghar and Sajid Khan will replace Akif Javed, Haider Ali, Mohammad Mohsin, Saif Badar and Umar Khan respectively in the 12-player squad which will be captained by Saud Shakeel.

The replacements have been made on the basis of performances in the domestic events with an aim of providing exposure and opportunities to top performers of the domestic events. Pacer Ehsan Adil took 18 wickets in nine first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2019-20 matches at an average of 32.67 for Central Punjab, the eventual winners of the tournament. With 934 runs in nine matches, 24-year-old Imran Butt was the highest run getter in the same tournament.

Mohammad Irfan Khan, a 17-year-old batsman, has been in the Pakistan U19 set-up since Pakistan's tour of South Africa in June last year. He donned the national colours in the ACC U19 Asia Cup in September 2019 and during the recently-concluded ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa. In the domestic circuit, the right-hander made 475 runs in 10 three-day non first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy contests at an average of 47.50.

For their outstanding run with the ball in the first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, spinners 21-year-old Mohammad Asghar (27 wickets in eight matches) and 26-year-old Sajid Khan (25 wickets in six matches) have also been drafted in the 12-member line-up.

Meanwhile, Northern, who play a T20 match against the MCC at the same venue on 17th February, have also made a change in their line-up for similar reasons. Musa Khan, who graduated to the highest level by making his Test debut Down Under in Novermber last year, has been replaced with Munir Riaz, who took 14 wickets in six matches in the National Under-19 Three-Day Tournament 2019-20.

Pakistan Shaheens squad:

Saud Shakeel (captain); Ehsan Adil; Hassan Mohsin; Imran Butt; Imran Rafiq; Mohammad Irfan Khan; Mohammad Asghar; Omair Bin Yousaf; Rohail Nazir (wicketkeeper); Sajid Khan; Sameen Gul; Zeeshan Malik.

Northern squad:

Rohail Nazir (captain, wicketkeeper); Faizan Riaz (vice-captain); Ali Imran; Haider Ali; Mubashir Khan; Munir Riaz; Nuaman Ali; Sarmad Bhatti; Shahzad Azam; Shiraz Khan; Zaid Alam; Zeeshan Malik.