LAHORE: The battle for Pakistan’s domestic first-class crown begins Sept. 12 as eight teams gear up for the President’s Trophy Grade-I.
The PCB has announced the full schedule and squads, with the five-day final set for Oct. 24-28.
The tournament will be played across four cities and feature 28 four-day first-class matches in a single-league round-robin format. Each team will play seven matches, with the top two sides advancing to the final.
The eight participating teams are Ghani Glass, Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), Kingsmen Academy, Markhor Information Technology Solutions (MIT), Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), Pakistan Television (PTV), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL).
MIT Solutions, the winners of the President’s Trophy Grade-II, and Kingsmen Academy, the runners-up, will make their first-class debuts in the tournament.
Seven rounds across four cities
The competition will be played over seven rounds, with four matches scheduled in each round.
Matches will be hosted at Imran Khan Stadium in Peshawar, Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Diamond Cricket Ground in Islamabad and Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.
The opening round will run from Sept. 12-15, with Ghani Glass facing KRL, MIT Solutions taking on Kingsmen Academy, PTV meeting OGDCL and SBP playing SNGPL.
President’s Trophy Grade-I Schedule
Sept. 12-15
- Ghani Glass vs. KRL — Imran Khan Stadium, Peshawar
- MIT Solutions vs. Kingsmen Academy — Abbottabad Cricket Stadium
- PTV vs. OGDCL — Diamond Cricket Ground, Islamabad
- SBP vs. SNGPL — Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
Sept. 18-21
- Ghani Glass vs. SNGPL — Diamond Cricket Ground, Islamabad
- KRL vs. MIT Solutions — Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
- SBP vs. PTV — Abbottabad Cricket Stadium
- OGDCL vs. Kingsmen Academy — Imran Khan Stadium, Peshawar
Sept. 24-27
- SBP vs. Ghani Glass — Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
- KRL vs. OGDCL — Abbottabad Cricket Stadium
- SNGPL vs. MIT Solutions — Imran Khan Stadium, Peshawar
- PTV vs. Kingsmen Academy — Diamond Cricket Ground, Islamabad
Sept. 30-Oct. 3
- MIT Solutions vs. Ghani Glass — Abbottabad Cricket Stadium
- Kingsmen Academy vs. KRL — Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
- SNGPL vs. PTV — Imran Khan Stadium, Peshawar
- OGDCL vs. SBP — Diamond Cricket Ground, Islamabad
Oct. 6-9
- PTV vs. Ghani Glass — Abbottabad Cricket Stadium
- KRL vs. SBP — Imran Khan Stadium, Peshawar
- OGDCL vs. MIT Solutions — Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
- SNGPL vs. Kingsmen Academy — Diamond Cricket Ground, Islamabad
Oct. 12-15
- Ghani Glass vs. Kingsmen Academy — Imran Khan Stadium, Peshawar
- PTV vs. KRL — Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
- MIT Solutions vs. SBP — Diamond Cricket Ground, Islamabad
- SNGPL vs. OGDCL — Abbottabad Cricket Stadium
Oct. 18-21
- OGDCL vs. Ghani Glass — Diamond Cricket Ground, Islamabad
- KRL vs. SNGPL — Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
- MIT Solutions vs. PTV — Imran Khan Stadium, Peshawar
- Kingsmen Academy vs. SBP — Abbottabad Cricket Stadium
Final: Top two teams, Oct. 24-28; venue to be confirmed.
The PCB also confirmed the players signed by the eight departmental Grade-I teams. The players can be selected in the playing XI for the President’s Trophy and Cup according to their availability.
Ghani Glass: Noman Ali (captain), Mohsin Riaz (vice captain), Abuzar, Ali Raza, Ali Razzaq, Ali Shabbir, Ghulam Haider, Hafiz Usman Nadeem, Hammad Butt, Haseebullah, Hashim Ibrahim, Hussain Talat, Khawaja Arham, Khurram Shahzad, Mirza Tahir Baig, Moeez Ghani, Mohammad Rameez Jr., Saad Naseem, Saeed Ali, Sameen Gul, Shahbaz Javed, Shadab Khan, Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Akhtar Jr., Tayyab Tahir, Ubaid Shah and Yahya Bin Abdul Rehman.
Khan Research Laboratories: Iftikhar Ahmed (captain), Fakhar Zaman (vice captain), Abdul Faseeh, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Ahmad Bashir, Arshad Iqbal, Asim Ali Nasir, Daniyal Ali Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Imran Rafiq, Mohammad Faiq, Mohammad Hamza, Mohammad Junaid, Mohammad Qaiser, Mohammad Zeeshan, Naseerullah, Raja Hamza Waheed, Raza-ul-Mustafa, Saqib Khan, Sarmad Bhatti, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahzaib Khan, Shayan Sheikh and Usman Tariq.
Kingsmen Academy: Tayyab Arif (captain), Salman Ali Agha (vice captain), Saud Shakeel, Akif Javed, Aqib Liaqat, Azan Tariq, Daniyal Hussain Rajput, Faizan Ghani, Habibullah, Haroon Sadaqat, Hasan Nawaz, Hunain Shah, Maaz Sadaqat, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Arshad, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Ilyas, Muhammad Shayan, Muhammad Suleman, Muhammad Umar, Saad Ali, Saim Ayub, Shoaib Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Umer Khan, Usman Khan and Zia-ul-Haq.
Markhor Information Technology Solutions: Husnain Nadeem (captain), Bismillah Khan (vice captain), Abdullah Hamdani, Abuzar Tariq, Adil Naz, Afaq Ahmed, Ali Asfand, Atizaz Habib Khan, Atiq-ur-Rehman, Khalid Usman, Khubaib Khalil, Maaz Khan, Mohammad Arslan Zia, Mohammad Farooq, Mohammad Imran Jr., Mohammad Ismail, Mohammad Nabeel, Mohammad Tahir, Muhammad Riazullah, Mustafa Javed, Rafay Rana, Sajjad Ali, Salman Aslam, Salman Khan, Samama Riaz, Shahab Khan, Syed Awad Naqvi, Tauqeer Abbas, Waleed Zahid Bajwa and Zahid Mansoor.
Oil and Gas Development Company Limited: Imam-ul-Haq (captain), Rohail Nazir (vice captain), Ali Imran, Ali Zaryab Asif, Danish Aziz, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Arsal, Mohammad Hammad Khan, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Salman, Mohammad Sarwar Afridi, Muhammad Amir Khan, Muhammad Irfan, Mushtaq Ahmed, Niaz Khan, Razaullah, Saad Khan, Umar Siddique and Waqar Ahmed.
Pakistan Television: Shamyl Hussain (captain), Taimur Khan (vice captain), Ahmad Daniyal, Ali Usman, Amad Butt, Arafat Minhas, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Israr Hussain, Kashif Ali, Khalil Ahmed, Mohammad Ammar, Mohammad Mohsin, Mohammad Taha, Muhammad Musa, Muhammad Shahzad, Sharoon Siraj, Waqar Hussain, Yasir Khan and Zahid Mehmood.
State Bank of Pakistan: Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (captain), Kamran Ghulam (vice captain), Abdullah, Abid Ali, Afaq Afridi, Ali Shan, Basit Ali, Faham-ul-Haq, Haroon Arshad, Hasan Ali, Hasan Raza, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mubasir Khan, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naqeebullah, Qasim Akram, Rameez Aziz, Shahid Aziz and Sirajuddin.
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited: Shan Masood (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (vice captain), Abdul Samad, Abdul Subhan, Abdullah Shafique, Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Ali Hassan Baloch, Athar Mahmood, Azan Awais, Bilawal Bhatti, Farhan Yousuf, Hamza Zahoor, Khan Zaib, Mohammad Rizwan, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Awais Zafar, Muhammad Azab, Muhammad Imran Randhawa, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saad Baig, Sajid Khan, Sameer Minhas, Shahnawaz Dahani and Shehzad Gul.
The three-day, non-first-class President’s Trophy Grade-II Gold and Silver tournaments are expected to begin in the third week of September.
The PCB said the schedules and details of the participating teams will be announced in due course.
