On August 5th, the Pakistan Cricket Board unveiled three new tournaments for the Men's Domestic Cricket Season 2024-25: the Champions One-Day Cup, Champions T20 Cup, and Champions First-Class Cup.
These new additions will enhance the existing domestic cricket calendar, which includes the National T20 Cup, Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, President's Trophy, President's Cup, and HBL Pakistan Super League 2025. The Champions One-Day Cup will start from 12th September.
On August 26, the PCB announced the appointment of five distinguished mentors for the aforementioned tournament.
Misbah-ul-Haq, Saqlain Mushtaq, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shoaib Malik, and Waqar Younis will serve as mentors under three-year contracts following a rigorous and transparent recruitment process.
According to the details, each mentor will receive an annual amount of 5 million rupees, totaling 15 million rupees over the three-year term.
These seasoned cricket stars will play a crucial role in identifying and nurturing emerging talent, with a focus on strengthening the national team's future prospects.
Each Champions Cup team will be supported by a 10-member staff, which includes a head coach, assistant coach, manager and others. The PCB is particularly optimistic about Saqlain Mushtaq's involvement, as the country is currently facing a shortage of spinners. Mushtaq's expertise is expected to address this issue effectively.
Waqar Younis has recently stepped down from his role as advisor to the chairman. Sources indicate that he was drawn to a mentoring position, which provides flexibility with no stringent office hours and offers attractive salary for only a few days of work.
Meanwhile, Sarfaraz Ahmed will remain available for the national team and can be summoned when required. Shoaib Malik has yet to officially retire and continues to play in leagues; however, he will also be accessible for his team during the domestic event.
The Champions Cup
The Champions One-Day Cup, featuring country's 150 best of the best cricketers, will be played at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad from 12-29 September with the opening match between Wolves and Panthers. The PCB on Monday had announced the five champion mentors with their team names and 15-player squads to be unveiled in the coming days.
The 50-over tournament will be played on a single-league format with the matches to commence at 3pm. There will be three playoffs in four days with the final on Sunday, 29 September.
Except for the 16 September match between Lions and Panthers, which will commence at 9.30am local time, all other 13 matches will begin at 3pm. Lions and Panthers will go toe to toe in a morning match to allow Pakistan women's versus South Africa women's T20I to be broadcast live.
Event schedule (all matches at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad; 16 Sep match will start at 9.30am, rest of the matches will start at 3pm):
12 Sep – Wolves v Panthers
13 Sep – Stallions v Lions
14 Sep – Dolphins v Panthers
15 Sep – Wolves v Stallions
16 Sep – Lions v Panthers
17 Sep – Dolphins v Wolves
19 Sep – Stallions v Dolphins
20 Sep – Lions v Wolves
21 Sep – Panthers v Stallions
22 Sep – Dolphins v Lions
24 Sep – Qualifier (Team No.1 v Team No. 2)
25 Sep – Eliminator 1 (Team No.3 v Team No.4)
27 Sep – Eliminator 2 (Losing Qualifier v Winning Eliminator 2)
29 Sep – Final .
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