Pakistan to play Champions T20 in India

Cricket's Champions League, to be hosted by India in September, will feature Pakistan's domestic Twenty20 champions, the Lahore Lions.

Pakistan will send its domestic Twenty20 champions, the Lahore Lions, to play in the Champions League to be held in India in September, an official said on Wednesday.

The Lions, led by former national Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez, beat Misbah-ul Haq's Faisalabad Wolves in the final of Pakistan's domestic event held in February.

The T20 champions of Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies will also take part in the in the Champions League.

"We have received an invitation to send our Twenty20 champion team so Lahore Lions will be participating in the event in September," a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesman told AFP.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) earlier this month announced the event would take place on its grounds, ruling out a possible neutral venue in the United Arab Emirates.

The event is likely to start on September 7 although no final dates have been announced.

The Lions also include international stars Ahmed Shahzad, Nasir Jamshed, Umar Akmal and Wahab Riaz.

No Pakistan team featured in the first three editions of the Champions League which started in 2009.

The Sialkot Stallions, led by Shoaib Malik, played in the qualifying stages of the event held in South Africa in 2012 but failed to progress to the main rounds.

Misbah-led Faisalabad suffered the same fate, failing to qualify for the main rounds when they featured in the event in India last year.

Both the PCB and the BCCI are hoping to revive bilateral cricketing ties in December 2015 after last month's signing of six series in the next eight years.


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