KARACHI: For the first time, a record twelve cities will be battling for supremacy when the fourth edition of National T20 Cricket Championship for people with physical disabilities starts from Monday (Nov 30).

Organized by the Pakistan Disabled Cricket Association (PDCA) and sponsored by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the tournament offers Rs200,000 to the team winning the title with the runners-up set to receive Rs100,000.

PDCA secretary Amiruddin Ansari told Dawn on Friday that the forthcoming competition will provide exhilarating brand of cricket.

“I’m pretty sure the level of competition will be intense because all teams playing here have worked extremely hard at their game. Some people are still skeptical as to how cricketers with physical disabilities play the game,” Amiruddin, a former first-class batsman and now a PCB match referee, said.

“We were amazed to see some real talent during the trials held at various centres to pick teams for the national event. The players in this form of the game are simply brilliant and a number of them are even good enough to compete against normal cricketers.”

The PDCA official further pointed out that the International Cricket Council (ICC) is already taking interest in the matches played by physically handicapped people.

“During the international T20 tournament in Dhaka earlier this year, [former Bangladesh Test batsman] Aminul Islam was specially assigned by the ICC to report on the event. Believe me, Aminul was astounded by what he saw and praised the high standard of cricket during the completion,” Amiruddin said.

“In the days ahead, we are optimistic that ICC will also extend their support since we are planning a World Cup for the cricketers who are physically handicapped.

“Since its formation the PDCA has worked tirelessly under guidance of our president Saleem Karim to expand the game, both at national and international levels. Pakistan have done quite well in several international series which proves that we are heading in the right direction,” he added.

PDCA media manager Mohammad Nizam, while talking to Dawn, expressed the hope that the coming tournament will attract more spectators to the matches than before.

“We have made efforts to organize the national competition in a befitting manner. In the past also, we had spectators at our matches. This time we are hoping that more people will turn up at the ground to encourage the ‘special’ cricketers,” Nizam remarked.

“These players are truly remarkable and those who have seen in action in the past will testify how good they are.”

Nizam said Islamabad will be making their debut in the forthcoming tournament and have been included in Group ‘C’ along with Multan and Faisalabad.

Holders Lahore, Quetta and Bahawalpur are in Group ‘B’ with runners-up Karachi, Peshawar and Sialkot in Group ‘A’, while Rawalpindi, Hyderabad and Sargodha make up Group ‘D’.

A total of 19 matches are scheduled to be played during the six-day event at three venues – UBL Sports Complex, Rashid Latif Cricket Academy (RLCA) Gulberg Ground and National Stadium – with four fixtures to be played daily in the preliminary round.

Top two teams from each group will go through to the last-eight phase that coincides with the World Disabled Day on Dec 3.

Both the semi-finals will be at the UBL Sports Complex on Dec 4, while the final at the same venue on Dec 5 will be live telecast by a private TV channel.

Man-of-the-match in each match will get Rs2,000. In addition Rs10,000 will be given to the best batsman, bowler, fielder and player-of-the tournament.

Schedule:

Pools:

Group ‘A’: Karachi, Peshawar, Sialkot

Group ‘B’: Lahore, Quetta, Bahawalpur

Group ‘C’: Faisalabad, Multan, Islamabad

Group ‘D’: Rawalpindi, Hyderabad, Sargodha

Nov 30: Multan vs Islamabad (UBL Sports Complex, 10:00am); Rawalpindi vs Sargodha (RLCA Gulberg Ground, 10:00am); Lahore vs Quetta (UBL Sports Complex, 2:00pm); Karachi vs Peshawar (RLCA Gulberg Ground, 2:00pm).

Dec 1: Hyderabad vs Sargodha (RLCA Gulberg Ground, 10:00am); Sialkot vs Peshawar (UBL Sports Complex, 10:00am); Lahore vs Bahawalpur (RLCA Gulberg Ground, 2:00pm); Faisalabad vs Islamabad (UBL Sports Complex, 2:00pm).

Dec 2: Rawalpindi vs Hyderabad (National Stadium, 10:00am); Quetta vs Bahawalpur (UBL Sports Complex, 10:00am); Multan vs Faisalabad (National Stadium, 2:00pm); Karachi vs Sialkot (UBL Sports Complex, 2:00pm).

Dec 3: First quarter-final – Group ‘A’ 1 vs Group ‘C’ 2 (National Stadium, 9:30am); second quarter-final – Group ‘B’ 1 vs Group ‘D’ 2 (RLCA Gulberg Ground, 9:30am); third quarter-final – Group ‘B’ 2 vs Group ‘C’ 1 (National Stadium, 2:00pm); fourth quarter-final – Group ‘D’ 1 vs Group ‘A’ 2 (RLCA Gulberg Ground, 2:00pm).

Dec 4: First semi-final – Winners of Group ‘A’ 1/Group ‘C’ 2 vs Winners of Group ‘D’ 1/Group ‘A 2 (UBL Sports Complex, 9:30am); second semi-final – Winners of Group ‘B’ 2/Group ‘C’ 1 vs Winners of Group ‘B’ 1/Group ‘D’ 2 (UBL Sports Complex, 2:00pm).

Dec 5: Final (UBL Sports Complex, 1:00pm).

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2015