Pentangular Cup begins today

KARACHI: Injury-prone fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar will be the centre of attraction when Federal Areas Leopards face Punjab Stallions in the opening match of the RBS Pentangular Cup One-day 2009-10 at the National Stadium here on Monday (today). The matches will be telecast live at Geo Super.

The tournament featuring five regional units with leading players in their ranks, was earlier scheduled to be held at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore but were later shifted here.

The blustering right-hander Imran Nazir, who belongs to Sialkot, has been inducted into the Yasir Hameed led NWFP Panthers along with pacer Sohail Khan, who normally plays for Sindh.

Multan Tigers’ pacer, Abdur Rauf, has been made skipper of Balochistan Bears. Left-handed opener Imran Farhat will lead Punjab Stallions while Faisal Iqbal has been assigned the task to lead Sindh Dolphins in the competitions in which total 11 matches will be played. Punjab Stallions will defend the title. Like the Twenty 20 Championship, thick security arrangements have been made once again for the smooth conduction of the event. All the matches will start at 1:00pm.