LAHORE: Left-handed batter Imam-ul-Haq, who was dropped from Pakistan’s Test side in August this year, has made his comeback case stronger with leading runs in the group stage of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy season 2024-25.
Imam, while representing his hometown Multan, scored 635 runs to remain on top of the batting chart in the group stage. His also scored 184, his highest, in this tournament.
Meanwhile, Peshawar’s young batter Maaz Sadaqat has a fair chance of surpassing Imam and Umar Amin (476 runs) to become the leading run-scorer in the tournament as his team qualified for the triangular stage of the extravaganza. Umar of Rawalpindi, who has been in top form for quite some time now, is on the second spot.
Maaz has scored 462 runs in the group stage to remain on the third position. Abid Ali, who is fighting hard in domestic cricket to make a comeback in Test side, has scored 425 runs while representing Bahawalpur.
On the bowling front, Islamabad’s Musa Khan tops the chart with 38 dismissals. Lahore blues’ Mohammad Abbas is in second position with 31 wickets followed by Mehran Sanwal in third with same number of wickets.
Afaq Afridi of FATA registered best bowling figures in an innings by taking eight wickets for 57 runs. Ubaid Shah, the younger brother of Test fast bowler Naseem Shah, also bagged eight wickets in an innings during the group stage.
Multan’s Afzal Manzoor remained at top of wicket-keeping chart with 26 dismissals. Mohammad Haris of Peshawar remained on fifth with 17 removals.
In the fielding department, Multan’s Zain Abbas tops the list with 11 catches.
It must be noted here that Lahore region whites of group A, Peshawar region of group B and Sialkot region of group C have made it to triangular stage.
Peshawar will take on Sialkot in the first match of triangular stage from November 26 to 29 followed by second match between Peshawar and Lahore from December 2 to 5. Both the matches will be played in Abottabad.
The third match between Lahore whites and Sialkot and the final of the tournament will be played after Champions T20 Cup which will be run from December 7 to 25 in Rawalpindi. Top two teams from the triangular stage will meet in the final.
Triangular Stage
Match 1 – 26-29 November – Peshawar vs Sialkot – Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad
Match 2 – 2-5 December – Peshawar vs Lahore Whites - Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad
Match 3- 27-30 December – Lahore Whites vs Sialkot – TBC
Final
2-6 January 2025 - Top two teams of the triangular stage – TBC
