Lahore Qalandars on its quest to hunt for heroes among ordinary street cricketers began its journey with the crown jewel of Pakistan the City of Gilgit, where an overwhelming crowd of more than 6 thousand young aspirants poured from surrounding districts to display their talent, skills and interest to be a part of Pakistan’s mainstream domestic cricket in City Park.
Player Development Programme initiative by Lahore Qalandars is in line with the franchise’s commitment to promote a fair pulsating sports culture in the country where the franchise provides pathways for identification of young players at grass root level and nurtures their progress to the top game.
With inclusion of Gilgit Baltistan in Player Development Program, for the first time in Pakistan, the franchise scouted top talent from the valleys of Gilgit. The team on ground included Cricketing legends Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shoaib Akhtar, Aqib Javed and Yasir Shah.
Having these motivating personalities on the field, interacting with the participants, sharing tips and tricks motivated the aspirants to up their game and try and impress the coaching panel for inclusion in Gilgit Qalandars.
Minister Tourism Sports and Culture Gilgit-Baltistan Mr. Fida Khan and local Polo player Bulbul Jan nicknamed the king of Polo also came in their support for Lahore Qalandars initiative to bring cricket to Gilgit Baltistan.
Secretary Interior Mr. Javed Akram, DC Gilgit Capt. (R) Sami-Ullah Farooq and their teams extended their full cooperation for the trials including security for the purpose.
List of Selected players from Gilgit include:
Asad Amin, Afaq Afridi, G Rehman, Kaleemullah, Awais Ahmed, M Nadeem, M Mubasher, M Sudaiz, Shoaib, Aswad, Mehroz, Ahsan Ali, Inayat, Asghar Ali, Yawar Bashir, Ikram, M Arfan.
The Lahore Qalandars team is now headed to their 2nd stop at Muzaffarabad on 9th August to continue the hunt for the best nascent talent in the country. The franchise will conduct trials at 11 cities across Punjab, KPK, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan to complete the formation of eight teams for a tournament from 31st August till 9th September.
