Prime Minister’s Youth Programme Chairman Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan said on Sunday that PM Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif had always stressed promoting merit culture.
Addressing a press conference here, he said that trials were held all over the country under Prime Minister’s Youth Programme (Sports Hunt Programme) and now competitions among selected teams would start from December 4, in Islamabad.
He said these competitions would help to highlight Pakistan’s cricket future. He said that the journey which Prime Minister’s Youth Programme started with Lahore Qalandar had reached in 25 cities of Pakistan, engaging over 300,000 boys and girls cricketers. He said that during the trials no pressure or recommendation was witnessed.
He said 175,000 batsmen and 125,000 bowlers participated in the trials. During the trials 100 such bowlers were witnessed who bowl at speed of more than 140 km/h, Mashhood added. He further said that a girl spin bowler from Mastung had also emerged and she would earn fame not only in Pakistan but at international level as well.
He said, “This talent would be further groomed so that Pakistan gets good players.”
He said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was committed to empowering youth in all fields. Prime Minister’s Youth Programme chairman thanked Lahore Qalandar for the trials and added that Higher Education Commission also played key role in this regard.
Lahore Qalandar CEO Atif Rana said transparency was ensured during the trials. He thanked the Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and federal government for ensuring merit and transparency in trials. He said, “Country has a lot talent and more efforts will be made to bring forward this talent.”