Intriguing decider offers CP, KP even chance

KARACHI: No matter what would eventually be the outcome of the latest Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final between holders Central Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it is generally anticipated the five-day clash, starting on Friday at the iconic National Stadium, won’t be a repeat of last season’s title-decider.

The inaugural final of the revamped first-class championship — on the very same turf — turned out to be a lopsided affair when the star-studded Central Punjab overwhelmingly crushed the title aspirations of Northern in a canter. That encounter concluded within four days with the Babar Azam-led Central Punjab sealing an innings and 16-run victory on man-of-the-match Umar Akmal’s 219, Faheem Ashraf’s six wickets and Bilal Asif’s eight-wicket haul in the second innings.

Given the fierce battle in the lead-up to the final, Central Punjab have definitely emerged to threaten Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s dominance after the latter comfortably topped the six-team standings with 161 points. Their CV is quite impressive too with five wins — the most by any side this season — under the captaincy of all-rounder Khalid Usman with ex-Pakistan star Abdul Razzaq proving to be their talisman as a hardworking head coach.

On the other hand, Central Punjab’s progress graph only got better and better in the second phase of the competition chiefly because of the change on the leadership front. The induction of Hasan Ali as captain worked wonders for the defending champions who chalked up four victories from five backend games during the preliminary-round stage to catapult into second place with a tally of 137 points.

Regardless of what had transpired during the league segment — where Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won their first meeting by five wickets before the last-pair denied Central Punjab victory in the return clash — the usual talk of one side heading into the biggest match of the season with psychological advantage doesn’t carry much weight in the modern world.

On paper also both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Central Punjab look quite formidable with the strengths they possess. Many might claim the gloss is missing this year due to the forced absence of Pakistan stars but there’ll be no shortage of intensity on the playing field.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been brilliant throughout the campaign and in Kamran Ghulam they have probably unearthed someone with the potential to make big strides in the coming years.

Since the revamping of the domestic cricket structure last year, no one else managed to reach four figures in a season and here is a 25-year-old from Upper Dir who made it count in the most emphatic way after being denied the opportunity to play any first-class fixture last season. Kamran is almost certain to finish the championship as the solitary player with 1,000 or more first-class runs because his main challengers were Sindh’s Saud Shakeel (970 runs) and Southern Punjab’s Agha Salman (941) both of whom are already out of the tournament.

The right-hander has amassed 1,065 runs at an impressive 59.16 and his four hundreds are the most by any batsman so far. Adil Amin (755 runs, 47.18) and Israrullah (608, 35.76) have both also played a vital part in their team’s success.

Similarly on the bowling side, 27-year-old off-spinner Sajid Khan is the leading wicket-taker with 62 scalps at 24.80 and is guaranteed to remain at the top of the leaderboard because his nearest rivals — Northern skipper Nauman Ali (61) and Southern Punjab’s wily leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood (52) — have finished their first-class season, for the time being.

Khalid has also played a pivotal role in his fine all-round contributions (463 runs, 38.58; 32 wickets, 31.28) with the seamers making inroads rather sporadically.

Central Punjab’s sudden rise is augmented by the camaraderie within the ranks. The highest run-getter among their lot is discarded Test right-hander Usman Salahuddin, who is currently fifth in the list with 797 runs at 46.88, while Mohammad Saad (608, 35.76) is the only other batsman to surpass.

Apart from being Central Punjab’s go-to-man, Hasan has trusted his otherwise fragile body to grab 38 wickets at a splendid average of 19.31 but the Pakistan paceman is sweating over the fitness of his new-ball partner Waqas Maqsood (34 wickets at 22.26) after the left-armer suffered an ankle injury some 10 days ago, which sidelined him from the decisive last-round win over Southern Punjab.

At the time of filing this preview, the availability of Fakhar Zaman remained unclear after the Pakistan left-hander was conferred with the honorary rank of lieutenant by his employers Pakistan Navy the other day.

While Khyber Pakhtu­nkhwa are chasing their second trophy of the season after having clinched the National T20 Cup in October, Central Punjab are bidding to complete a fairytale end to the season by retaining the title.

Teams (from):

CENTRAL PUNJAB: Hasan Ali (captain), Mohammad Akhlaq, Ali Zaryab, Usman Salahuddin, Mohammad Saad, Saad Nasim, Qasim Akram, Ali Shan, Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Bilawal Iqbal, Ehsan Adil, Bilal Asif, Ahmed Bashir, Waqas Maqsood

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA: Khalid Usman (captain), Israrullah, Sahibzada Farhan, Kamran Ghulam, Adil Amin, Zohaib Khan, Rehan Afridi, Sajid Khan, Imran Khan, Arshad Iqbal, Mohammad Wasim, Fakhar Zaman, Irfanullah Shah, Sameen Gul Umpires: Asif Yaqoob and Rashid Riaz TV umpire: Ahsan Raza Match referee: Ali Naqvi.