With the penultimate round of the President’s Trophy concluding on Saturday, we take a look at how the leading Pakistan cricketers fared.
Despite concerns around his dwindling returns and diminishing speeds, Afridi did well against Ghani at the Imran Khan International Stadium in Peshawar. He struck 47 off 49 balls in the first innings in KRL’s 547 for 9 and then returned 4 for 61, dismissing opener Khawaja Arham and returning late in the innings to clean up the tail.
He, however, went wicketless in the second innings and leaked 53 runs in eight overs.
Afridi travelled south to the PCB’s National Cricket Academy in Lahore after the game ahead of the ODI tri-series.
The Pakistan Test captain was another player who was returning to domestic first-class cricket in Pakistan after seven years. But his return proved quite underwhelming as he could put up only 58 runs across four innings at 14.50.
He scored another century – three rounds later – against KRL, a 145 in Islamabad. It followed his 72 against Pakistan TV (PTV) in the previous round. He pulled out after the sixth round because of the pre-ODI tri-series camp in Rawalpindi.
The middle-order batter joined Agha at Kingsmen Academy from the third round of the President’s Trophy as he was one of the eight members of the squad that were retained for the third Test against England, and he has struck two centuries and a half-century in the tournament so far.
Shakeel started the tournament with a 147-ball 100 in his team’s only win to date. The century helped Kingsmen Academy post a mammoth 568 for 8 in reply to PTV’s 355. The huge first-innings score ensured Kingsmen Academy had a meagre target of 87 to chase, which they did with ease in 9.5 overs.
He followed up with scores of 62 and 29 not out against KRL and after hitting 20 each in the two innings against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) in his third match of the season, Shakeel scored 112 off 161 in a dull, high-scoring contest between Kingsmen Academy and Ghani in Sheikhupura in the sixth round.
Since Shakeel is not part of the ODI squad for the tri-series, he is expected to turn out for Kingsmen Academy in the last round, which commences on Monday, October 19.
Never before had Haris Rauf, who had played just 13 first-class matches before the President’s Trophy despite making his debut in 2019, been part of four matches in a single domestic first-class tournament in Pakistan.
He has pushed his case for selection with 18 wickets at 20.55 in four matches. He has bowled a total of 102.5 overs across eight innings, which is an encouraging sign as Pakistan are looking for a fast bowler who can bowl at express pace for long durations.
Rauf started the President’s Trophy with a five-wicket haul against OGDCL and capped off his part in the tournament with match-winning four-wicket hauls – 4 for 45 and 4 for 91 -against Ghani.
Naseem has also not been a regular in domestic first-class tournaments, despite being out of favour when it comes to Test cricket: he had played only one first-class match before the recent outing since his last Test appearance in December 2024 in South Africa.
He played the first two T20Is against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi and though he returned 3 for 36 in the first match, he was, at times, wayward. Naseem is the part of Pakistan’s ODI squad and, as such, will not feature in this year’s President’s Trophy anymore.
It remains unclear whether the former Pakistan Test captain will play any further part in the President’s Trophy after retiring hurt on 22 against OGDCL in the most recent round. He appeared to have twisted his ankle, but the exact nature of his injury remains unclear. His injury compounded the woes for SNGPL, who find themselves at the brink of relegation after having accumulated only 53 points from six games.
Masood, a regular in domestic red-ball cricket, had a horrible start to the President’s Trophy as he recorded a golden duck against PTV and scored only 10 in the second innings. He, however, changed things aroun against Kingsmen Academy with 83 in the first innings.
The legspin-bowling allrounder was another leading player with just the solitary appearance in the President’s Trophy. He played in the fourth-round match for Ghani against Markhor IT Solutions, which his side won by an innings and 140 runs. He was in the Pakistan’s side for the Sri Lanka T20Is and is also part of the ODI squad for the tri-series, which begins on Sunday.
The brittle batting performance from Markhor IT Solutions meant that Shadab bowled just 13.4 overs across the match, returning 3 for 27 and 1 for 42. He was impressive with the bat as he smashed 68 off 63 balls as his side pushed the opposition out of the game in the first innings by scoring 416 in reply of a meagre 150.
Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi is a cricket journalist based in Lahore
