Pakistan A will take on Afghanistan in the opening fixture of the three-match rubber on Wednesday (today) here at Diamond Club ground on Wednesday.
Test player Sohail Tanvir will lead the home side.
The match will start at 9:30 in morning as both the teams held their practice session in the ground on Tuesday afternoon. They worked in all the three departments of the game including fielding, batting and bowling.
International umpire Nadeem Ghauri and S Raza will supervise the opening fixture while Ghaffar Kazmi will be third umpire. Mohammad Anis will act as match referee while Shakil Ahmed will be official scorer.
Security has been tightened and security persons have been deployed around the ground. “The road along the Diamond ground will be closed on match day and private vehicles will not be allowed on the road. Not a single entry will be allowed without pass or ticket,” a security official told this scribe.
Skipper of the visiting team, Naroze Mangle told reporters that his team was fit for the competition and would not allow experienced rivals to win the match comfortably. “We will play positive game and all the players are fit for the match. Pakistan and Afghanistan have same situation and this is our second home and we are happy to play cricket here,” he added.
Meanwhile, Afghan coach Rashid Latif, who played 37 Tests and 166 one-day internationals for Pakistan, said that this series would benefit both the teams and for the game of cricket. “This series may open doors for international cricket in coming days. I think this year other teams should also come in Pakistan for international cricket,” he added.
The former wicketkeeper further added that Afghan team was in good touch. “We made just four changes in the team which defeated Pakistan in the Asian Games one year back at Guangzhou, China. We have good pacers and a couple of talented batsmen and I am expecting it will be a good game as Pakistan A team is also a strong side,” he said.
Rashid said that this series would be good occasion for the Afghan players to learn more skills. “Afghanistan has a limited domestic structure which will improve with the passage of time, however, Afghan will get more advantage after playing with Test status holding team, “he maintained.
Later, captain of the Pakistan A team, Sohail Tanvir hoped that they would perform well in the three-match series against Afghanistan.
The pacer said that tourists had not much international experience, however, they would not take the opponent easy in the series. “We will enter the ground with full strength and try to win the battle 3-0,” he said.
He said it would be an opportunity for him and all other players to get the berth in the national team after showing their class in the series.
Pakistan Squad:Sohail Tenveer (captain), Babar Azam, Shan Masood, Sharjeel Khan, Umer Amin, Naveed Yasin, Usman Salahuddin, Rameez Raja, Mansoor Amjad, Sarfraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Zulfiqar Babar, Yasir Shah, Sohail Khan, Mohammad Talha, Sadaf Hussain
Officials:
Sajjad Akbar (Coach-cum-Manager), Imran Ullah (Trainer), Iftikhar (Physiotherapist), Mohammad Imran (Masseur)