KARACHI: Karachi Ke Shehzade tournament kicked off at Naya Nazimabad cricket stadium on Sunday. A tournament that consists of five teams formed with players selected from the open trials conducted by Karachi Kings, Khiladi Ki Khoj.
The ceremony started off at 8:30 PM and was hosted by Sports Room’s anchor Najeeb Ul Hasnain.
The honourable CEO of ARY Network and owner of Karachi Kings Mr. Salman Iqbal told while addressing the ceremony that they have always fulfilled their promises.
“It has been 17 years since we started ARY television and by the grace of God we have fulfilled all of our promises,” he said. “I promise that out of 75 players, the team that wins the tournament, will be sent to UK on my expenses along with the owner and brand ambassador of the team for training.”
He hailed the efforts of Karachi Kings director, Rashid Latif, for picking these 75 players out of thousands of kids that appeared for open trials.
“Rashid Latif has worked extremely hard to pick and train these players during hot summers of Karachi, he has shortlisted these 75 Shehzade out of thousands of players from open trials,” he said.
“I am thankful to people of Pakistan and Karachi for respecting us probably more than the winners of PSL season 1 and 2,” he added.
Mr. Salman Iqbal also shared that people congratulate him for winning Champions Trophy as a Pakistani and also for being a part of PSL as the league has produced some impressive talent that has led the Green team to the glory.
“I remember two years ago, when the PSL was kicked off, whole Pakistan along with international community was not expecting the league to produce this sort of talented players, but now PSL has produced some immensely skilled cricketers,” he stated.
He is hoping that these Shehzade will be groomed into Kings very soon.
The ceremony also featured a musical performance along with an amazing exhibition of fireworks to conclude the opening ceremony of the tournament.
Star Marketing won the inaugural game of the tournament by 13 runs against Igloo. Muhammad Suleman of Star Marketing was named Man of the Match for his match-winning spell of four overs, where he took three wickets.