LAHORE – The 2023-2024 domestic season is set to commence on September 10 with both the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and the Hanif Mohammad Trophy to be played concurrently.
A total of 18 regional teams have been slotted in this domestic structure with eight teams playing in the premier first-class tournament Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and 10 teams featuring in the Hanif Mohammad Trophy, a non-first-class four-day tournament.
This will be the first domestic season played after the PCB revived the PCB 2014 Constitution according to which regional and departmental teams return to the domestic circuit.
Abbottabad, Lahore, and Rawalpindi will be hosting the QeAT, with 29 matches slotted between four venues across the three cities.
Peshawar, Karachi Whites, Lahore Blues, Rawalpindi, FATA, Multan, Lahore Whites, and Faisalabad are the teams playing first-class cricket.
The opening round of the QeAT will begin on September 10. Lahore Whites will be facing Lahore Blues at Gaddafi Stadium, while Peshawar and Karachi Whites will be facing each other at Abbottabad Stadium.
Faisalabad vs. Multan will be held at Shoaib Akhtar Stadium in Rawalpindi while FATA vs Rawalpindi will be staged at Pindi Cricket Stadium.
The second round of matches will begin on 16 September. A total of seven rounds will take place with each team playing the other once before the top two sides meet in the final scheduled at the Gaddafi Stadium from 22 to 26 October.
Hanif Mohammad Trophy
The Hanif Mohammad Trophy will have 26 matches, with the 10 teams divided into two groups. The ten teams featuring in the tournament are Abbottabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Bahawalpur, Dera Murad Jamali, Hyderabad, Karachi Blues, Larkana, Quetta, Sialkot and Islamabad.
The tournament will see the top two sides from each group at the end of the group stage qualify for the Super 4 stage, where each team in that stage will play three matches.
At the end of the Super 4 stage, the top side will qualify for next year’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. The first round of matches will be played between Islamabad and AJK in Muzaffarabad and Larkana and Sialkot in Mirpur for Group A.
For Group B, the first round of matches will be played between Hyderabad and Karachi Blues in Multan and Bahawalpur and Dera Murad Jamali in Rahim Yar Khan. The Hanif Mohammad Trophy will aim to serve as a pathway for the regional sides to qualify for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
