Quaid-e-Azam Trophy to begin from Dec 28

PCB revise schedule amid complaints from regional coaches.

KARACHI: The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy will now begin from December 28 as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) revised the opening date of the country’s premier first-class tournament that was scheduled to begin today. 

The board was heavily criticised for hosting an exhibition match – scheduled for today – for the opening of the Ghari Khuda Bakhsh Stadium in Larkana as coaches of participating teams complained that several key players would not have been able to take part in the first match of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

In addition, the PCB had also asked the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) to move the Twenty20 International between Pakistan and India from December 27 to December 28 because of the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto while the domestic matches were to be played on that date.

However, the concerned board officials said that they identified the mistake before the start of the event and rectified it immediately so that the best players were available to all sides.



“It was a mistake which we rectified as we wanted to make sure that top players turn up for their regional teams,” a PCB official told The Express Tribune. “As for the case of December 27, PCB didn’t want a gap of one day to accommodate the first match schedule, that’s why we thought it would be better to move the date forward so that continuity remains in the play.”

The format of the event is also a complex one with 14 teams being divided into two groups of seven where they will play on league basis. At the end of the league-phase, the top four teams from each group will form two more groups and will compete against each other and the top-placed sides will go on to contest the final for the title.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2012.