Babar Azam joins OGDCL ahead of President's Trophy Grade-I third round

LAHORE: National men's team's Test captain and star batter Babar Azam has joined the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) squad ahead of their third-round President's Trophy Grade-I match, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) shared on Wednesday.

Babar, whose last domestic first-class appearance came in December 2019 when he led Central Punjab to the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy title after defeating Northern by an innings and 16 runs in the final, will make his long-awaited return to the setup when OGDCL lock horns with Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium in Abbottabad from September 24 to 27.

Besides Babar, OGDCL will further be bolstered by the arrival of Razaullah, who recently made waves on his Test debut against England earlier this year, while mystery spinner Usman Tariq has joined the KRL squad, which also features ace pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Besides Babar Azam, Razaullah and Tariq, several other national cricketers have also joined their respective departments on the eve of the President's Trophy Grade-I third round.

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), who suffered an innings defeat at the hands of Ghani Glass in the second round, will be boosted by Test cricketers Naseem Shah and Abdullah Shafique, besides welcoming Pakistan U19 trio of Hamza Zahoor, Abdul Subhan and captain Farhan Yousaf.

Experienced middle-order batter Saud Shakeel, who was also a part of the Pakistan squad for the recently concluded away series against England, has linked up with Kingsmen Academy, who suffered a nine-wicket thrashing at the hands of OGDCL in the second round due to their batting failure.

Meanwhile, all-rounder Aamir Jamal has joined Markhor IT (MIT) Solutions, emerging top-order batter Abdullah Fazal has linked up with State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), while Pakistan Television (PTV) welcomed left-arm spinner Ali Usman ahead of the upcoming round.

Furthermore, Ghani Glass were bolstered by the arrival of emerging pacer Hunain Shah, while Shadab Khan and Noman Ali are set to join the department ahead of the fourth round.