Defending champions Sialkot will take on table toppers Karachi Blues in the final of the 68th edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, set to be played from 1-5 December at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.
The winner of the tournament will bag prize money of PKR 7.5 million, while the runners-up will be awarded PKR 4 million. Player of the final will be awarded PKR 100k, while best bowler, batter, wicket-keeper and player of the tournament will be awarded PKR 250k each.
The tournament is set to be broadcast on PTV Sports in and outside Pakistan and will be live-streamed on Tapmad in Pakistan. Ali Younis, Raja Asad, Salman Butt and Tariq Saeed will call the action from behind the mic for the fans tuning in to the final.
Sialkot – who previously won in 2005-06, 2008-09 and 2024-25 seasons – will be looking to add a fourth title to their closet. Karachi Blues, on the other hand, have been the most successful team in Pakistan’s premier first-class event, having won nine titles since the 1961-62 season.
Overall, various Karachi sides, including Blues, Whites, Urban and A have won a combined total of 21 titles, and Saud’s side will be vying to keep the legacy intact with yet another tournament win. Most recently, it was Karachi Whites in the 2023-24 season and Karachi Blues in the 2012-13 season to lift the Quaid Trophy silverware from the cricket-rich region.
The 2012-13 Quaid Trophy final saw Karachi Blues and Sialkot lock horns in Lahore last time, with the former taking the title by nine wickets in an emphatic performance.
In the ongoing edition, Karachi Blues have beaten Multan, Peshawar, Abbottabad, Islamabad and Sialkot in the 45-match league stage, where every team played nine matches. They drew against Lahore Whites, Faisalabad and lost to FATA and Bahawalpur.
Blues – who were among the four teams to qualify for the tournament from the Hanif Mohammad Trophy held in August and September – revived their campaign after only one win and two losses from their first five matches to finish top. They will be eager to continue the four-match winning streak.
Sialkot have been in such rich form that their only loss in the tournament is a three-wicket defeat to Karachi Blues in the last round, where they fought hard both with the bat and ball. Their three drawn fixtures came against Peshawar, Faisalabad and Bahawalpur.
Such was the breakneck competition for the two berths in the final that one defeat against Karachi Blues had also put Sialkot on the brink of elimination, but Bahawalpur’s come-from-behind win against the other contenders, Faisalabad (141), did the reigning champions (155) a favour as they pipped the 2023 runners-up on the points table.
Karachi’s wicketkeeper-batter Saad Baig sits atop with 930 runs apart from 27 dismissals behind the stumps, while Shamyl Hussain (899), Shahzaib Khan (838), Saad Khan (837) and Sialkot’s Azan Awais (790) are the other top five. Interestingly, apart from Saad, the other four batters among the top five played the ICC Men’s U19 World Cup 2024 together, where Pakistan finished in the semi-finals.
The next best batters for Karachi and Sialkot on the run-scoring charts are Shan Masood (562) and Mohammad Huraira (560), respectively.
On the bowling front, Karachi Blues’ pacer Saqib Khan is joint-second with Mohammad Abbas, having taken 38 wickets besides Multan’s Ali Usman’s 48. Khalid Usman (31) and Sajid Khan (30) occupy the next places, while Sialkot’s pacer Mohammad Ali (28) has the joint-sixth most scalps on the list.
The two squads also carry plenty of international experience with them as Sialkot will be looking towards Test player Abdullah Shafique, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Ali and Huraira, apart from Usama and guest player Mohammad Hasnain.
Karachi boast the services of Pakistan Test team’s batting line-up in Shan and Saud, while internationals Danish Aziz and Usman Khan will also come in handy for the port-city side.
