Lahore Lions to play in 2014 CLT20

Karachi: Pakistan will send their domestic Twenty20 champions Lahore Lions to play in the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) to be held in India in September, an official said on Wednesday.

The Lions, led by former Pakistan Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez, beat Misbah-ul Haq's Faisalabad Wolves in the final of the event held in February. The Twenty20 champions of Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies will also take part in the event.

"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 will take place on its grounds, ruling out a possible neutral venue in the United Arab Emirates. The event is likely to start in the middle of September, although no final dates have yet 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-ul-Haq led the Faisalabad Wolves in the 2013 edition in India but they suffered the same fate as they failed to qualify for the main rounds. Both 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.