KARACHI: Sialkot's skipper Usama Mir and several other teammates are feeling unwell ahead of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy's triangular stage which is starting tomorrow in Abbottabad.
According to sources, Sialkot's squad had to travel for two days to reach Abbottabad from Mirpur due to obstructed highways leading to Islamabad. The players and support staff left Mirpur on Saturday morning and reached Abbottabad on Sunday evening.
Sources shared that players including Sialkot's captain Usama felt unwell on their way to Abbottabad. Due to not feeling well, Usama and a couple of other players also didn't go to training today.
Usama took 13 wickets in the group stage of the tournament. His participation in tomorrow's match will depend on his medical condition.
Sialkot alongside Peshawar and Lahore whites reached the triangular stage of Pakistan domestic cricket's flagship tournament, Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
Top-performers in group stage
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. He 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 in the second spot.
Maaz has scored 462 runs in the group stage to remain in the third position. Abid Ali, who is fighting hard in domestic cricket to make a comeback in the 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 the same number of wickets.
Afaq Afridi of FATA registered the 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 the top of the wicket-keeping chart with 26 dismissals. Mohammad Haris of Peshawar remained in fifth with 17 removals.
In the fielding department, Multan’s Zain Abbas tops the list with 11 catches.
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
Muzamil Asif
