ISLAMABAD: The 68th edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy begins on Mo­n­day in four cities as 10 regional teams including defending champions Sial­kot look to fight out for the red-ball glory in Pakistan.

Sialkot squeezed past Peshawar in a tense one-wicket win to bag the title in last year’s edition led by Amad Butt at the UBL Sports Complex in Karachi.

The two teams will again come face to face in the opening round of the country’s premier first-class event at the Imran Khan Stadium, Peshawar as four other matches will also begin in Abbottabad, Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has annou­nced a winners prize of Rs7.5 million while the runners-up will collect Rs4 million. In a first, player-of-the-match in each league match will get Rs25,000.

Player-of-the-final will be awarded Rs100,000 while best bowler, batter, wicket-keeper and player of the tournament will earn Rs250,000 each.

Among the 10 participating teams, Fata, Faisala­bad, Karachi Blues and Multan have qualified from the Hanif Mohammad Tro­p­­hy while Abbottabad, Bah­a­­walpur, Peshawar, Sialkot, Lahore Whites and Islama­bad were among the top performing teams in the last edition.

In the 46-match tournament a number of fixtures including the final are also set to be live-streamed on the PCB YouTube Channel in order to bring the fans closer to the action unfolding in domestic cricket.

As part of player development in first-class cric­ket, all teams are required to field at least one U-21 campaigner in their playing XI for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

First-round fixtures
(Oct 6-9):

Abbottabad vs Bahawalpur, Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad; Lahore Whites vs Islamabad, Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi; Peshawar vs Sialkot, Imran Khan Stadium, Peshawar; Fata vs Multan, Diamond Cricket Ground, Islamabad; Faisalabad vs Karachi Blues, Marghzar Cricket Ground, Islamabad.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2025