The maiden edition of the Pakistan Junior League (PJL 1) is all set to run in Lahore's Gadaffi Stadium from October 6th to 21st. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), on Wednesday, 21st September, unveiled the detailed schedule for the PSL-like U19 T20 league.
PJL 1 Teams:
PJL 1 will undergo six teams named Gujranwala Giants, Mardan Warriors, Bahawalpur Royals, Hyderabad Hunters, Gwadar Sharks, and Rawalpindi Raiders. All teams will play against each other once, as Round 1 will be played on a single-league basis.
Understand Qualifiers round in PJL 1:
The second round of the Qualifiers will be just like the PSL. The Qualifier will be played between ranked number 1 and 2 teams on the PJL 1 points table. The one winning Qualifier 1 will directly qualify for the final.
The next match of the second round, Eliminator, will be played between ranked 3 and 4 teams of the PJL 1 points table. The losers of this match will be eliminated from the contest, whereas the winners will combat the losers of Qualifier 1 in Qualifier 2. The winner of Qualifier 2 will reach the final to lock horns with the Qualifier 1 winner.
All three matches of the Qualifiers will be played on the 18th, 19th, and 20th of October, respectively, whereas the final is scheduled for the 21st of October. Here is the complete PJL 1 schedule:
PJL 1 complete schedule:
6 October – Gujranwala Giants vs Mardan Warriors
7 October – Bahawalpur Royals vs Hyderabad Hunters
8 October – Rawalpindi Raiders vs Gwadar Sharks; Gujranwala Giants vs Bahawalpur Royals
9 October – Hyderabad Hunters vs Gwadar Sharks; Rawalpindi Raiders vs Mardan Warriors
10 October – Bahawalpur Royals vs Mardan Warriors
11 October – Hyderabad Hunters vs Rawalpindi Raiders
12 October – Gujranwala Giants vs Gwadar Sharks
13 October – Mardan Warriors vs Hyderabad Hunters
14 October - Rawalpindi Raiders vs Gujranwala Giants; Bahawalpur Royals vs Gwadar Sharks
15 October – Hyderabad Hunters vs Gujranwala Giants; Bahawalpur Royals vs Rawalpindi Raiders
16 October – Mardan Warriors vs Gwadar Sharks
18 October – Qualifier 1 (1 vs 2)
19 October – Eliminator (3 vs 4)
20 October – Qualifier 2 (Loser Qualifier 1 vs Winner Eliminator)
21 October – Final (Qualifier 1 Winner vs Qualifier 2 Winner)
Match timings:
Double-headers – 3:30 pm and 8:00 PM PST respectively
All single-headers – 8:00 PM
PJL 1 complete squads:
Bahawalpur Royals
Elite Category: Arham Nawab (vice-captain), Nathan Edwards (West Indies), Obaid Shahid (c), Sajjad Ali
Premier Category: Mohammad Zeeshan, Rehan Ahmed (England), Basit Ali, Ali Razzaq, Nangeyalia Kharotai (Afghanistan)
X-factor Category: Farhan Yousaf, Mohammad Tayyab Arif, Shahwaiz Irfan, Mohammad Danish, Ahmed Hussain, Gabriel Gallman-Findlay
Gujranwala Giants:
Elite Category: Ali Asfand, Azan Awais, Uzair Mumtaz (c), Tom Aspinwall (England)
Premier Category: Mohammad Ibtisam, Ariful Islam (Bangladesh), Hasnain Majid, Shevon Daniel (Sri Lanka), Mohammad Shan
X-factor Category: Mohammad Waqas, Hasan Ali Jnr, Mohammad Aqib Asghar, Saqlain Nawaz, Hamza Nawaz, Matthew Tromp (USA).
Gwadar Sharks:
Elite Category: Joseph Eckland (England), Danial Ibrahim (England), Haseeb Nazim, Muhammad Ismail
Premier Category: Arafat Minhas, Luc Martin Benkenstein (England), Mohammad Shoaib, Saad Masood, Shamyl Hussain
X-factor Category: Momin Qamar, Mohammad AbuBakar, Aftab Ahmed, Muhammad Zulkifal, Adnan Iqbal, Kushal Malla (Nepal).
Hyderabad Hunters:
Elite Category: Saad Baig (c), Afaq Khan, Aftab Ibrahim, Isai Thorne (West Indies)
Premier Category: Haseeb-ur-Rehman, Muneeb Wasif, James Ross Wood (England), Lahiru Dawatage (Sri Lanka), Arbaz Khan
X-factor Category: Mohammad Zubair Jnr, Moeez Rana, Hassan Iqbal, Fahad Amin, Salman Ahmed, Ali Naseer (UAE).
Mardan Warriors:
Elite Category: George Thomas (England), Abbas Ali (c), Archie Lenham (England), Abidullah
Premier Category: Daud Nazir, Haseeb Khan, Muhammad Nabeel, Olly Cox (England), Mohammad Farooq
X-factor Category: Mohammad Irfan, Aimal Khan, Zohaib Khan Shanzaib, Syed Tayyab Hussain, Shahzaib Khan, Burhan Niaz (Belgium).
Rawalpindi Raiders:
Elite Category: Habibullah (c), Ali Ishaq, Afnan Khan, Hassan Eisakhil (Afghanistan)
Premier Category: Ali Raza, Kai Smith (England), Aseer Mughal, Amir Hassan, Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar (Afghanistan)
X-factor Category: Ziaullah, Usman Khan, Wahaj Riaz, Haroon Arshad, Naveed Ahmed Khan, Charlie Tear (England).