The Antigua and Barbuda Falcons in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will not see Pakistan batter Fakhar Zaman anymore. He is slated to participate in the forthcoming Champions Cup One-Day series in Pakistan planned for September 12 to 29.
Fakhar Zaman registered only three games during his stay in CPL 2024 where he made a total of 100 runs at a striking rate of 131.57. All that effort was however wasted as the team suffered three losses with two happening during last-ball finishes.
As per Cricket Pakistan report, Fakhar Zaman is set to return home and feature for one of the five franchises during the Champions Cup. Conversely, Azam Khan has been allowed by the No Objection Certificate to still play in CPL until then. He’s not expected to play for any team during domestic List A tournament.
Others still representing Pakistan like Mohammed Amir and Imad Wasim are also going on with CPL since they have already drifted away from fifty over format.
The Guyana Amazon Warriors retained Saim Ayub among other players ahead of their CPL 2024 season but did not give him an NOC due to his involvement with national team in ongoing Test series against Bangladesh.
Pakistan’s Champions Cup will include five teams, with former players serving as mentors
The Champions Cup, which was initiated by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) under leadership of Mohsin Naqvi, aims to develop and improve the quality of cricket talent in the country. It is designed for players to have better international readiness when they make their transition into international cricket.
In its first season, five teams — the Dolphins, Lions, Panthers, Stallions and Wolves — will take part in this competition. Misbah-ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik have been appointed as mentors for Wolves and Stallions respectively.
Additionally, other notable personalities such as Waqar Younis, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq are also anticipated to join this event as mentors. After just three weeks in his new role, Younis stepped down as an advisor to the chairman of PCB recently.