KARACHI: While Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) are poised to make their return to topflight domestic cricket on Saturday in what appeared to be hotchpotch scheduling with first-class and one-day competitions both entwined together and to be run concurrently during the league phase, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) are rather fortunate to survive the drop.

ZTBL — who were famously known as the Agriculture Development Bank Limited (ADBP) and won four first-class titles (Quaid Trophy in 1988-89 and Patron’s Trophy in 1990-91, 1993-94 and 1995-96) until restructuring of the department by federal government in 2002 saw them adopt the current nomenclature — last played at this level four seasons back (2014-15) before being demoted.

NBP, on the other, should offer a huge debt to the owners of United Bank Limited (UBL) for abruptly disbanding altogether their team — just months after last season — over alleged misappropriations of cricketing budget by an influential group of officials.

NBP, who were the bottom-placed departmental side last season, have bolster their squad with the inclusion of several top axed UBL players, including Test opener Shan Masood, who has been in magnificent form and is nominated to lead the side, talented slow left-armer Mohammad Asghar, Pakistan discard Hammad Azam as vice-captain, left-arm seamer Rum­man Raees Khan and a new signing in the shape of young talented left-handed batting all-rounder Danish Aziz to name a few.

Further in a shrewd management move to boost the team morale, NBP also re-signed Iqbal Qasim to head the bank’s sports department once again after the former Pakistan spinner quit his position in the PCB recently.

In the opening round of action, Quaid-i-Azam Trophy champions Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) open against Lahore Whites at Lahore’s LCCA Ground, runners-up Wapda face Karachi Whites here at the National Stadium while Habib Bank Limited (HBL) start afresh under their new head coach Saleem Jaffer, the former Pakistan paceman who had been involved in a similar role with Karachi outfits in the past several seasons.

Disgruntled Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal hopes for a controversy-free season with the HBL after making headlines for all the wrong reasons in the last couple of years both at the international and domestic levels.

Saleem believes that Akmal still has the capacity to resurrect his cricketing career despite being chased by controversies, both on and off the field.

“I think [as the head coach] I can get the best out of him on the field. Guys like Umar give you sleepless nights but if one can handle such players tactfully there’s no reason of him turning over a new leaf,” Saleem told Dawn from Islamabad on eve of HBL’s first match against Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground. “I am pretty confident of handling Umar because as a coach it is part of the job to get tough if the player is not focused on his game. And if he starts giving 100 percent the team would obviously benefit.”

Multan, the regional winners of Quaid-i-Azam Grade-II event last season, have replaced the demoted Faisalabad for the first-class segment in the only other change to the tournament from the previous season.

The PCB has decided to stick with the experiment of playing first-class fixtures with the Duke branded balls in the new season during which the vast majority of current national team players won’t be seen in action on the home soil because of heavy international commitments as Pakistan are slated to compete in the Sept 15-28 Asia Cup in the UAE upfront before they host Australia and New Zealand in bilateral series in the Emirates after that before embarking on a lengthy tour of South Africa in December.

Schedule of four-day and one-day tournaments:

Pool ‘A’: Lahore Whites, Islamabad, Peshawar, Fata, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP).

Pool ‘B’: Karachi Whites, Lahore Blues, Rawalpindi, Multan, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL), Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL).

Sept 1-4 and 6: Lahore Whites vs SNGPL (LCCA Ground, Lahore), KRL vs Peshawar (KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi), Islamabad vs HBL (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad), Fata vs NBP (Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad; Karachi Whites vs Wapda (National Stadium, Karachi), Multan vs PTV (Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan), Lahore Blues vs ZTBL (Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad), Rawalpindi vs SSGCL (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi).

Sept 8-11 and 13: Lahore Whites vs NBP (LCCA Ground, Lahore), Peshawar vs HBL (KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi), Islamabad vs KRL (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad), Fata vs SNGPL (Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad); Karachi Whites vs SSGCL (National Stadium, Karachi), Multan vs Wapda (Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan), Lahore Blues vs PTV (Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad), Rawalpindi vs ZTBL (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi).

Sept 15-18 and 22: Lahore Whites vs HBL (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore), NBP vs Peshawar vs NBP (Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad), Islamabad vs SNGPL (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad), Fata vs KRL (Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad); Karachi Whites vs ZTBL (National Stadium, Karachi), Multan vs SSGCL (Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan), Lahore Blues vs Wapda (LCCA Ground, Lahore), Rawalpindi vs PTV (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi).

Sept 25-28 and 30: Lahore Whites vs KRL (LCCA Ground, Lahore), SNGPL vs Peshawar (Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad), Islamabad vs NBP (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad), Fata vs HBL (Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad); Karachi Whites vs PTV (National Stadium, Karachi), Multan vs ZTBL (Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan), Lahore Blues vs SSGCL (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore), Rawalpindi vs Wapda (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi).

Oct 3-6 and 8: Lahore Whites vs Peshawar (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore), SNGPL vs NBP (Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad), KRL vs HBL (KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi), Islamabad vs Fata (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad); Karachi Whites vs Rawalpindi (National Stadium, Karachi), Multan vs Lahore Blues (Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan), ZTBL vs Wapda (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi), PTV vs SSGCL (Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad).

Oct 11-14 and 16: Lahore Whites vs Fata (LCCA Ground, Lahore) SNGPL vs HBL (Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad), KRL vs NBP (KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi), Islamabad vs Peshawar (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad); Multan vs Karachi Whites (Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan), Lahore Blues vs Rawalpindi (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore), ZTBL vs PTV (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi), SSGCL vs Wapda (Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad).

Oct 19-22 and 24: Lahore Whites vs Islamabad (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore), HBL vs NBP (Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad), KRL vs SNGPL (KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi), Peshawar vs Fata (Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad); Lahore Blues vs Karachi Whites (LCCA Ground, Lahore), Rawalpindi vs Multan (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi), ZTBL vs SSGCL (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad), PTV vs Wapda (Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad).

Quaid-i-Azam One-day Cup Knockout Round

Quarter-finals:

Oct 27: No. 1 of Pool ‘A’ vs No. 3 of Pool ‘B’ (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore).

Oct 28: No.1 of Pool ‘B’ vs No. 3 of Pool ‘A’ (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore).

Oct 29: No. 2 of Pool ‘A’ vs No. 4 of Pool ‘B’ (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore).

Oct 30: No 2 of Pool ‘B’ vs No. 4 of Pool ‘A’ (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore).

Semi-finals:

Nov 1: Winners of first quarter-final vs Winners of third quarter-final (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore).

Nov 2: Winners of second quarter-final vs Winners of fourth quarter-final (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore).

No 4: FINAL (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore).

Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Super Eight Stage

Group-I:

Nov 7-10: No. 1 of Pool ‘A’ vs No. 2 of Pool ‘B’ (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); No. 3 of Pool ‘A’ vs No. 4 of Pool ‘B’ (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad).

Nov 13-16: (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad).

Nov 19-22: (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad).

Group II:

Nov 7-10: No. 3 of Pool ‘B’ vs No. 4 of Pool ‘A’ (Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad); No. 1 of Pool ‘B’ vs No. 2 of Pool ‘A’ (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore).

Nov 13-16: No. 1 of Pool ‘B’ vs No. 4 of Pool ‘A’ (Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad); No. 3 of Pool ‘B’ vs No. 2 of Pool ‘A’ (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore).

Nov 19-22: No. 2 of Pool ‘A’ vs No. 4 of Pool ‘A’ (Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad); No. 1 of Pool ‘B’ vs No. 3 of Pool ‘B’ (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore).

Dec 4-8: FINAL (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi).

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2018