After comprehensively beating a team comprising former and current players of Pakistan’s national cricket team last year, the Qatar Stars are up to the task once again.
To add to the joy of Eid this year for cricket lovers and particularly Pakistani cricket fans, a team of Pakistan Stars, which includes some big names, will take on the Qatar Stars in a T20 match today at Asia Town Cricket Stadium.
Organised by Pro Event, the match will start at 7:30pm.
“Almost all of the Pakistan Stars players have played for the Pakistan national team and have been especially invited for the event. Hopefully, it will hopefully be a thrilling match as it was last year,” Sajad Chaudhry, one of the organisers of the event, told Gulf Times.
In the last match between the two sides last year, Qatar Stars had beaten Pakistan Stars by 10 runs in a thrilling contest.
Last year, Pakistan’s former opening batsman Nasir Jamshed had played a pivotal role in Qatar Stars’ victory, scoring 40 odd runs off just 24 deliveries to help the hosts set a competitive target.
This year, however, no Pakistani international player is playing for the Qatar Stars side. The team is made up of local players, including some players of Qatar’s national team.
Captained by Chaudhry Iqbal, the team comprises Kamran Khan, Taimoor Sajjad, Faheem Sajjad, Rizwan Hussain, Asim Ali, Umar Taj, Zaheer, Rizlan, Bilawal Rana, Rohail Ali, Kamran Afzal, Faisal Baloch, Abbas Shah, Feroz and Irtizah Sajjad. Pakistan Stars are captained once again by former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and includes many stars who have played the last match such as Abdur Razzak, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Aizaz Cheema while Khurram Manzoor, Mohamed Talha, Adnan Akmal, Yasir Hameed and Mohamed Sami are joining the squad as well.
The Pakistani players arrived in Doha yesterday evening and took part in a light training session. The players were delighted to see the festive ambience in Doha on the eve of Eid celebrations in Qatar.
Chaudhry said the match has generated the same buzz as it had created last year and organisers are expecting a large crowd once again.
There will be a ceremony before the start of the match at 6pm. However, the gates will open at 4pm for the spectators to be seated. The event is sponsored by How Automibiles Centre, Stepco Group and Fast Technology Automobile Maintenance.