LAHORE: The first phase of country premier first-class tournament for the prestigious Quaid-e-Azam Trophy will commence from Oct 20 with the opening five rounds of matches beginning simultaneously in Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad.

The second five-round slot will be played at three venues — the UBL Sports Complex, NBP Sports Complex and SBP Sports Complex — in Karachi, which will also the five-day final at the iconic National Stadium from Dec 25.

The fixtures in Punjab will be contested at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium and the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan.

Meanwhile, the team managements of six Cricket Associations have finalised their squads with Azhar Ali Central Punjab), Fawad Alam (Sindh), Iftikhar Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Abbas (Southern Punjab), Nauman Ali (Northern) and Imran Butt (Balochistan) named to lead their respective outfits during the three-month-long competition.

The 2020-21 first-class domestic season produced some enthralling battle while the event culminated in an extraordinary tie between Central Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at the National Stadium.

Squads:

BALOCHISTAN: Imran Butt (captain), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Akbar-ur-Rehman, Amad Butt, Ayaz Tasawwar, Bismillah Khan, Gohar Faiz, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Junaid Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Raza-ul-Hasan, Taj Wali, Umaid Asif, Yasir Shah (subject to fitness).

CENTRAL PUNJAB: Azhar Ali (captain), Abid Ali, Ahmed Bashir, Ahmed Shehzad, Bilal Asif, Bilawal Iqbal, Ehsan Adil, Faheem Ashraf, Hussain Talat, Junaid Ali, Mohammad Saad, Mohammad Akhlaq, Saad Nasim, Saif Badar, Waqas Maqsood, Zafar Gohar.

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA: Iftikhar Ahmed (captain), Aamir Khan, Adil Amin, Ashfaq Ahmed, Asif Afridi, Imran Khan, Israrullah , Khalid Usman, Musadiq Ahmed, Nabi Gul, Niaz Khan, Rehan Afridi, Sahibzada Farhan, Sajid Khan, Sameen Gul, Tahir Khan.

NORTHERN: Nauman Ali (captain), Aamir Jamal, Aaqib Liaquat, Athar Mahmood, Faizan Riaz, Mohammad Hurraira, Mubasir Khan, Munir Riaz, Mohammad Musa Khan, Nasir Nawaz, Rohail Nazir, Sarmad Bhatti, Umar Amin, Umar Waheed, Usman Khan Shinwari, Waqas Ahmed.

SINDH: Fawad Alam (captain), Asad Shafiq, Ashiq Ali, Hasan Mohsin, Khuzaima Bin Tanvir, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Asghar , Mohammad Hasan, Mohammad Hasnain , Mohammad Suleman, Mohammad Taha, Saad Khan, Shan Masood, Sharjeel Khan , Sohail Khan, Tabish Khan.

SOUTHERN PUNJAB: Mohammad Abbas (captain), Aamir Yamin, Ali Usman, Azam Khan, Hassaan Khan, Imran Rafiq, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Imran Randhawa, Mohammad Junaid, Naved Yasin, Tayyab Tahir, Umar Siddique, Waqar Hussain, Yousuf Babar, Zain Abbas, Zia-ul-Haq.

Schedule:

Oct 20-23: Balochistan vs Sindh (Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad); Central Punjab vs Southern Punjab (Multan Cricket Stadium); Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vs Northern (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore).

Oct 27-30: Balochistan vs Southern Punjab (Multan); Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vs Sindh (Faisalabad); Central Punjab vs Northern (Lahore).

Nov 3-6: Balochistan vs Central Punjab (Lahore); Northern vs Sindh (Multan); Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vs Southern Punjab (Faisalabad).

Nov 10-13: Balochistan vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Lahore); Central Punjab vs Sindh (Faisalabad); Northern vs Southern Punjab (Multan).

Nov 17-20: Northern vs Balochistan (Faisalabad); Southern Punjab vs Sindh (Lahore); Central Punjab vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Multan).

Nov 24-27: Sindh vs Balochistan (UBL Sports Complex, Karachi); Southern Punjab vs Central Punjab (SBP Sports Complex, Karachi); Northern vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (NBP Sports Complex, Karachi).

Nov 30-Dec 3: Southern Punjab vs Balochistan (UBL Sports Complex); Sindh vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (SBP Sports Complex); Northern vs Central Punjab (NBP Sports Complex).

Dec 6-9: Central Punjab vs Balochistan (NBP Sports Complex); Sindh vs Northern (UBL Sports Complex); Southern Punjab vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (SBP Sports Complex).

Dec 12-15: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vs Balochistan (UBL Sports Complex); Sindh vs Central Punjab (SBP Sports Complex); Southern Punjab vs Northern (NBP Sports Complex).

Dec 18-21: Balochistan vs Northern (SBP Sports Complex); Sindh vs Southern Punjab (NBP Sports Complex); Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vs Central Punjab (UBL Sports Complex).

Dec 25-29: Final (National Stadium, Karachi).

Published in Dawn, October 16th, 2021