The National T20 Cup will be commenced from October 13, 2019 (today) at Faisalabad's Iqbal Stadium. According to details, the tournament returns to the city of Faisalabad after eight seasons and it is expected to keep the spectators on the edge of their seats as the top 96 players of the country in the shortest format will compete for the T20 trophy.

After the restructuring in the domestic structure, the winning prize money for the tournament has increased by 100 percent to Rs. 5 million.

The runner-up will get Rs. 2.5 million and the top performers of the tournament, player of the tournament, best batsman of the tournament, best bowler of the tournament and best wicketkeeper of the tournament will get Rs. 100,000 each.

The man-of-the-match award for every match is worth Rs. 25,000 while man-of-the-final will be honored with Rs. 35,000.

With Pakistan scheduled to play three T20Is against Australia in early November, followed by the player draft for the 2020 HBL Pakistan Super League, the tournament serves as a perfect opportunity to the players to secure places in the national squad and impress scouts of the six franchises.

It, however, will be difficult for the players to grab attention of the national selectors and franchises' scouting teams with the enhancements in the quality of cricket which has been brought by the reduction in the number of teams at the top-level in the new domestic structure.

The tournament will be broadcasted live on Ten Sports and PTV Sports, and two matches will be played in a day, except for the final on October 24, 2019. The first match of the day will begin at 1:30pm and the second match of the day will be a day/night with the first ball being bowled at 5:30pm.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019