Nineteen-year-old Qasim Akram has been chosen to lead the Pakistan Shaheens cricket team in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. The tournament will be played in the T20 format from September 28 to October 7.
Qasim, who is 20 years old, has played in 20 first-class matches and 40 T20 matches. He was also the captain of the Pakistan U19 team in the ICC U19 World Cup in 2022, as mentioned by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Among the 15 players in the squad, eight have already played for the Pakistan men’s national team. These players are Aamir Jamal, Arshad Iqbal, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Usman Qadir. The rest of the team, which includes Arafat Minhas, Omair Bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Rohail Nazir, and Sufiyan Muqeem, have been recently associated with the Shaheens team.
In this tournament, the Shaheens team will start competing from the quarter-final stage, which is scheduled for October 3 and 4. The semi-finals will take place on October 6, followed by the final match and the bronze medal match on October 7.
Back in 2010, the Pakistan men’s team won a bronze medal in their first appearance at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
