Pak U16 team eyes to claim series against Australia

The Pakistan U16 cricket team will depart for Dubai from Lahore tonight to take on Australia U16 in a series of five 50-overs matches and one Twenty20 fixture at the ICC Academy.

The series is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, 9 January and will culminate with the T20 game on Sunday, 20 January. This is Australia’s return visit after Pakistan earlier toured Melbourne in April 2018. Australia managed to clinch the five-match series 3-2, while Pakistan had won the one-off T20 game by seven wickets.

The Pakistan side will be led by Umer Eman, the Lahore-born left-handed batsman and leg-spinner. Eman said he is thrilled at the opportunity of captaining the team, which he termed as a ‘dream coming true’ and also set his sights on winning all matches against Australia U16 at the ICC Cricket Academy.

“We will aim to win all games in the conditions that are familiar to us,” remarked Umer, adding, “I want to thank the Almighty; it is a great feeling to not only represent but to captain Pakistan at a young age. It is like a dream that’s come true for me and I want to give it my absolute best,” quoted PCB.

This series is part of the PCB’s planning in the build up to the next ICC U19 Cricket World Cup, which will be held in South Africa in 2020.

Squad: Umer Eman (capt), Aaliyan Mehmood, Ahmed Khan, Ali Asfand, Ali Hassan, Aseer Mughal, Ayaz Shah, Faisal Akram, Farhad Khan, Haseebullah Khan, Kashif Ali, Mohammad Shehzad, Rizwan Mahmood, Sameer Saqib and Zubair Shinwari (wkt)

Series schedule:

9 January – 1st 50-over match, ICC Academy, Dubai

11 January – 2nd 50-over match, ICC Academy, Dubai

13 January – 3rd 50-over match, ICC Academy, Dubai

16 January – 4th 50-over match, ICC Academy, Dubai

18 January – 5th 50-over match, ICC Academy, Dubai

20 January – one-off T20 match, ICC Academy, Dubai