LAHORE: President’s Trophy making the return of departmental cricket in the domestic structure, is set to begin from Saturday (today) across three venues i.e., National Bank Stadium, UBL Sports Complex and SBP Sports Complex in Karachi.

This first-class tournament will be played till 31 January 2024 in which seven departmental teams will play one another in a round-robin format. The tournament will comprise 22 games, which will be divided as seven rounds of league-stage matches and a five-day final between the top two teams from January 27 to 31, 2024.

The President’s Trophy marks the return of departmental cricket in the domestic structure, as was devised after the reinstitution of the PCB 2014 Constitution. The last edition of President’s Trophy was held in the 2018-19 domestic season, which was won by the State Bank of Pakistan.

Departmental cricket will provide players an extra earning opportunity, as they will get to participate in additional tournaments following the conclusion of the regions-based domestic tournament cycle, which included the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (Winners: Karachi Whites), Pakistan Cup (Winners: Peshawar) and National T20 Cup (Karachi Whites).

The seven teams participating in the tournament are comprised of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), Pakistan Television (PTV), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Ghani Glass.

In the first-round fixtures, SNGPL to face Ghani Glass at National Bank Stadium, PTV to face SBP at SBP Sports Complex and WAPDA to face KRL at UBL Sports Complex.

Nadeem Khan, Director – Domestic Cricket Operations, said: “The return of departmental cricket will benefit all the stakeholders. We are hoping that the President’s Trophy will bring even more depth and competition to our domestic circuit. We have added HEC and Ghani Glass to this first-class tournament on a probationary basis.

We will closely monitor the performances of these two teams in this edition and make decisions about their involvement in the proceeding season based on their competitiveness at the first-class level.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023