Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Cricket Tournament will start today۔

 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Cricket Tournament will start today.

The winning team will get a prize money of Rs.75 lakh.

Defending champions Karachi Region Whites’ first match is against Peshawar Region.

Eighteen teams from sixteen regions are participating in the tournament,

which have been placed in three groups.

Three grounds will host first-class matches for the first time.

Duke balls will be used in the tournament

Lahore, 25 October 2024: Sports Link 

A prize pot of PKR12.6 million will be up for grabs as Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2024-25 begins today. 18 teams of the 16 regional sides will be in action across seven cities with Karachi Region Whites,

defending champions of the premier first-class tournament, beginning this year’s campaign against Peshawar Region at the Ashfaq Ground in Charsadda.

The winner of the tournament will bag PKR7.5 million while the runners-up will collect PKR four million.

The 18 sides will be divided into three groups with Abbottabad Region, Faisalabad Region, Hyderabad Region, Islamabad Region, Lahore Region Whites and Larkana Region placed in Group A. AJK Region, Bahawalpur Region,

Karachi Region Whites, Multan Region, Peshawar Region and Rawalpindi Region are part of Group B, while Dera Murad Jamali, FATA Region, Karachi Region Blues, Lahore Region Blues, Quetta Region and Sialkot Region are in Group C.

Each side will get an opportunity to play a minimum of five matches in the group stage, with the top team from each group progressing to the triangular stage. In the triangular stage,

the first-placed team from each group will play two matches, with the top two sides qualifying for the final, set to take place from 14 to 18 December. The venues of the triangular stage and the final will be confirmed in due course.

Three venues – Ashfaq Cricket Ground in Charsadda, Rana Naveed Cricket Academy in Sheikhupura and Saeed Sports City in Lahore – will host first-class matches of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy for the first time. The three cricket grounds will stage five matches each in the group stage of the tournament.

As announced earlier, Duke balls will be used in the red-ball Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2024-25. This decision follows an extensive analysis of ground and pitch conditions across domestic venues, with the Duke ball being custom-made to suit the characteristics of local pitches.

Squads:

Abbottabad Region: Khalid Usman (captain), Adil Naz, Afaq Ahmed, Ahmed Khan, Aitizaz Habib Khan, Aqib Khan, Arsalan Sajid, Israr Hussain, Khayam Khan, Muhammad Adil, Muhammad Riazullah, Sajjad Ali, Shahzaib Khan, Yasir Shah and Zain Ishaq

Peshawar Region: Iftikhar Ahmed (captain), Abubakkar, Azam Khan, Hilal Khan, Israrullah, Mehran Ibrahim, Muazzam Umer, Muhammad Amir Khan, Muhammad Zulkifal, Nabi Gul, Niaz Khan, Sahibzada Farhan, Ubaid Ullah, Waqar Ahmed and Zubair Khan

AJK Region: Hassan Raza (captain), Abdul Rehman Muzamil, Ali Abbas, Aqib Liaqat, Faizan Saleem, Hasnain Shameer, M Ammar, Najam Naseer Kiyani, Naveed Malik, Raja Farhan, Salman Irshad, Shadab Majeed, Taj Wali, Usman Salahuddin and Zaman Khan

Bahawalpur Region: Abid Ali (captain), Adil Amin, Ali Afzal, Ali Shabbir, Ali Umar, Gulfam Aziz, Imran Randhawa, M Umair, M. Faizan Zafar, Mehran Sanwal, Muhammad Alamgeer, Muhammad Ammar, Muhammad Junaid, Muhammad Shahriyar and Shoaib Manzoor

Dera Murad Jamali Region: Imran Khan Snr (captain), Abu Huraira, Aftab Ahmed, Aqib Junaid, Arbaz Khan, Basit Ali, Danish Aziz, Dawood Khan, Irfan Ullah Shah, Muhammad Deen, Muhammad Shahid, Nasir Khan, Sajjad Ali, Shoaib Ahmed and Taimur Ali

Faisalabad Region: Faheem Ashraf (captain), Abdul Samad, Ahmed Safi, Ali Asfand, Ali Shan, Asad Raza, Atiq Ur Rehman, Daniyal Ahmed, Irfan Khan Niazi, Kamran Khan, M.Awais Zafar, Muhammad Saleem, Shahid Ali, Shahid Khan and Shehzad Gul

FATA Region: Khushdil Shah (captain), Abdul Aziz, Asif Afridi, Azaz Khan, M Usman, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Sarwar, Muhammad Wasim Jr, Nisar Afridi, Salman Khan, Sameen Gul, Samiullah Jr, Shahid Aziz, Sirajuddin and Usama Ahmed

Hyderabad Region: Muhammad Hasnain (captain), Asim Ali Jatt, Bilawal Bhatti, Daniyal Hussain Rajput, Gohar Ali (Wk), Jawad Ali Bhatti, Kashif Bhatti, Muhammad Saddam, Muhammad Suleman, Muhammad Waqar, Mustafa Nasir, Nauman Khan, Rizwan Mehmood, Sharjeel Khan and Ubaid Ullah Khan

Islamabad Region: Rohail Nazir (captain), Faizan Riaz, Farmanullah Khan, Hammad Saddique, Hassan Nawaz, Kaleem Dil, Muhammad Arsal Shaikh, Muhammad Musa, Muhammad Nadeem, Nusrat Ullah, Sarmad Bhatti, Shamyl Hussain, Shayan Shaikh, Umair Riaz and Umar Nawaz Khan

Larkana Region: Mohsin Raza (captain), Aamir Ali Babar, Akbar ur Rehman, Ali Haider, Amir Brohi, Asif Ali Chandio , Bilal Irshad , Faraz Aziz , Fazal Subhan , M. Aqeel Danish , Muhammad Nawaz , Mushtaq Kalhoro , Sabit Ali , Shahzaib Aziz and Umar Khalid

Lahore Region Blues: Imran Butt (captain), Asfand Mehran, Hafiz Usman Nadeem, Hammad Butt, Hamza Nawaz, Hashim Ibrahim, Hussain Talat, Junaid Ali, M.Zahid , Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan, Nisar Ahmed , Samama Riaz , Shahrukh Ali and Umar Siddique

Lahore Region Whites: Saad Naseem (captain), Ahmed Bashir, Ahmed Daniyal, Ali Zaryab Asif, Atyab Ahmed, Imran Dogar , M. Faiq, M.Ahsan, M.Akhlaq, M.Rameez Jnr , M.Salman, Shahbaz Javaid, Tayab Tahir, Ubaid Shah and Ubaid Shahid

Multan Region: Zain Abbas (captain), Imam Ul Haq, Uzair Mumtaz, Muhammad Shahzad, Muhammad Basit Ali, Imran Rafique, Sharoon Siraj, M Ismail Watto, Waseem Akram, Tahir Hussain, Ali Shafique, Faisal Akram, Ali Usman, Aamer Yameen and Waqar Hussain

Quetta Region: Bismillah khan, Abdul Wahid Bangulzai, Gohar Faiz, Hazrat Wali, Ikram Ullah, Jalat khan, Kamran Khan, Muhammad Ibrahim, Muhammad Idrees, Muhammad Junaid, Nadeem Ahmed, Najeeb Ullah, Nizam Uddin, Shabaz Khan and Yasir Khan

Rawalpindi Region: Shadab Khan (captain), Abdul Faseeh, Affan Ishaq, Ali Hasnain, Aqib Shah, Atif Khan, Awais Anwar, Haider Ali, Jahandad Khan, Kashif Ali, Muhammad Faizan, Taimoor Khan, Umer Amin, Zeeshan Malik and Ziad Khan

Karachi Region Blues: Fawad Alam (captain), Abdullah Fazal, Khawaja Muhammad Nafay, Kashif Ali, Muhammad Taha, Adeel Meo, Saifullah Bangash, Mirza Saad Baig, Aarish Ali, Moazzam Malik, Afnan Khan, Muhammad Hamza, Muhammad Fahad Amin, Aftab Khan and Tabish Khan

Karachi Region Whites: Usman Khan (captain), Abdul Rehman, Aftab Ibrahim, Arbaz Khan, Arif Yaqoob, Ashiq Ali, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Jahanzaib Sultan, Khurram Manzoor, Muhammad Asghar, Muhammad Asif, Muhammad Hussain, Muhammad Umar, Rameez Aziz and Saqib Khan

Sialkot Region: Usama Mir (captain), Afzal Manzoor, Ahsan Hafeez Bhatti, Ali Raza, Ammad Butt, Ashir Mehmood, Awais Ali, Azan Awais, Fahad Jamil, Hamza Nazar, M Abdul Rehman, M Waleed, Mohsin Riaz, Salman Aslam and Shahzaib Bhatti

Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (first round matches, 26-29 October):

Group A

Faisalabad Region v Lahore Region Whites; Diamond Ground, Islamabad

Islamabad Region v Abbottabad Region; National Ground, Islamabad

Hyderabad Region v Larkana Region; Marghazar Ground, Islamabad

Group B

Multan Region v Rawalpindi Region; Shoaib Akhtar Stadium, Rawalpindi

AJK Region v Bahawalpur Region; Abbottabad Cricket Stadium

Peshawar Region v Karachi Region Whites; Ashfaq Ground, Charsadda

Group C

Sialkot Region v FATA Region; Jinnah Cricket Stadium, Gujranwala

Dera Murad Jamali Region v Lahore Region Blues; Saeed Sports City, Lahore

Karachi Region Blues v Quetta Region; Rana Naveed Academy, Sheikhupura