In a simple yet graceful ceremony at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore, the Pepsi Junior Under 19 Tournament (Grade-II) Trophy was presented to the winners, Sheikhupura Cricket Association. Pakistan Cricket Board GM Operations, Mr Zakir Khan, was the chief guest while Mr Sarfraz Ahmed represented the sponsors. Other important guests included Mr. Azmat Rana and Mr. Tariq Aurangzeb, coach and the manager of the Sheikhupura team, Col. Nooruddin Khwaja, Manager Domestic Cricket and Mr. Saqib Irfan, the statistical officer of the PCB.

The ceremony began with an introduction of the Sheikhupura players to the Chief Guest followed by the trophy presentation to Qaisar Abbas, the captain of the winning team. The shimmering trophy was accompanied with the winner’s cheque of Rs. 24,000.

During refreshments, I had an opportunity to talk to the captain of the winning team. Young Qaisar was all smiles as he lavished praise on his team who outclassed Kohat in all departments of the game to win the final of the competition. However, he specifically mentioned the names of Kaleem Imran, the budding wicket keeper with 40 victims in the tournament, Kashif Imran, the middle order batsman, and Nadeem Javed, the right-arm fast bowler; as further additions to Pakistan cricket's talent pool. Qaisar, who plays first-class cricket for National Bank of Pakistan, himself showed good all-round performance as he led his side victory in the competition.

In the end, he paid special tribute to his coach and ex-test cricketer Azmat Rana, who conducted the team camp under the blazing sun during the whole of the Punjab summer to ensure that his players were fully prepared for the rigors of the tournament. Qaisar said, “I have special regards for the Sheikhupura administration, especially Mr Ashraf Khan and Mr Moin Chishti, the District President and the Secretary, without whose keen interest and cooperation our team would certainly not have seen the honor of this day.”

The ceremony ended with separate group photo sessions of the players with the Chief Guest and with their coach and manager.

One clearly had the feeling that Pakistan is grooming young talent rapidly and this augurs well for the future of Pakistan cricket.

© CricInfo