Quaid-e-Azam Trophy begins with Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi in action
The 69th Quaid-e-Azam Trophy starts on November 3 with eight Gold teams and a 12-team Silver tier. Babar Azam's Lahore Whites face Shaheen Shah Afridi's FATA in the opening round in Islamabad.
- The 69th Quaid-e-Azam Trophy begins on November 3.
- Eight teams play in the Gold tier and 12 in the Silver tier.
- Lahore Whites, with Babar Azam, face FATA in the opening round.
- The Gold final is scheduled for December 15-19.
The 69th edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan's premier first-class cricket tournament, begins on Tuesday, November 3. The Gold and Silver competitions run at the same time, according to The Express Tribune and ProPakistani.
Eight teams compete in the Gold tier: defending champions Karachi Blues, Faisalabad, FATA, Lahore Whites, Islamabad, Peshawar Blues, Multan and Sialkot Blues. Their matches are played across Islamabad, Abbottabad and Rawalpindi. The Gold tier runs until December 12, with 29 first-class matches in total.
The five-day Gold final between the top two teams is scheduled for December 15-19.
In the opening round, Babar Azam is set to play for Lahore Whites against FATA, who are led by Shaheen Shah Afridi. The match is at Diamond Cricket Ground in Islamabad. Each Gold team has 15 travelling players and may pick from its reserves or the national-duty pool.
The Silver tier has 12 teams in two groups of six and serves as a qualification pathway to the Gold competition for the next season. Group A has Lahore Blues, Rawalpindi, Larkana, Quetta, Bahawalpur and Peshawar Whites. Group B has Karachi Whites, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Hyderabad, Dera Murad Jamali, Abbottabad and Sialkot Whites.
Group A matches are played at KCCA Stadium and the SBP and UBL Sports Complexes in Karachi. Group B fixtures are at Multan Cricket Stadium, Sports Complex Rahim Yar Khan and Dring Stadium in Bahawalpur. The Silver group stage runs from November 3 to 30, and the five-day final between the two group winners is set for December 3-7. The Silver tier has 31 first-class matches.
The Express Tribune listed the Gold head coaches: Samiullah Niazi (Faisalabad), Riaz Afridi (FATA), Naveed Latif (Islamabad), Syed Iqbal Imam (Karachi Blues), Aizaz Cheema (Lahore Whites), Fahad Masood (Multan), Abdul Rehman (Peshawar Blues) and Shahid Yousuf (Sialkot Blues).
According to ProPakistani, all four Gold matches in each round will be live-streamed on Tamasha and tapmad. Four of the six Silver matches in each round will also be streamed.
Why it matters
The tournament features leading national players and is the domestic competition feeding Pakistan's national team, and its matches will be streamed for fans across the country.
