KARACHI: Once ranked as country’s top cricket nurseries, it is sad to note the state of the game in both Karachi and Lahore, who once ruled the roost.

This can be easily gauged by the simple fact that the second-string outfits of the two major cities have failed even to make knockout round of the Silver League of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship starting on Sunday with the quarter-finals.

As expected, the relatively much-stronger department teams have all made it to the last-eight round by occupying top three spots in each of the two pools.

The remaining two places were taken up by Hyderabad Hawks and Bahawalpur Stags after both regions ended up fourth in their respective groups.

Karachi Zebras and Lahore Eagles failed to qualify after finishing fifth and sixth in Group-I for reasons best known to their administrators.

Whatever the internal politics in their camps, they have left many searching for appropriate answers at their demise in domestic cricket. In the days and weeks ahead, the usual inquest will be carried out to find out the root causes afflicting both of them.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) shouldn’t be granting them preferential treatment anymore by allowing them to field two teams in major national competitions.

Long gone are the days when Karachi, in particular, used to have almost half their side walking into the Pakistan squad. Practically, the same goes for Lahore because the emerging talent is now coming from smaller places, a development that was unthinkable 20 years ago.

Group-I champions Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) start as overwhelming favourites as they face Bahawalpur Stags in the first quarter-final at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot after having advanced to this stage with six straight victories.

Likewise, Habib Bank should get the better of Hyderabad Hawks at the picturesque Mirpur Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. The bankers lost their last preliminary-round game against Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) as they had opted to rest a number of key players after winning their opening five fixtures.

In the remaining two quarter-finals are all-department affairs. Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) have a slight edge against State Bank with the giant figure of Mohammad Irfan likely to turn up at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

The Pakistan Test fast bowler, who just played against Karachi Zebras last month in Karachi where he bagged a hat-trick, has been virtually kept under wraps under specific instructions from the cricket board to keep him fit for upcoming limited-overs games against New Zealand with the 2015 World Cup foremost in mind.

But since a lot of hinges of this match with the losing outfit unlikely to be competing at the first-class level next season.

SSGC take on Pakistan Television (PTV) in the last quarter-final at the National Cricket Ground in Islamabad and would want to build on the success of last season during they won the Patron’s Trophy title to qualify for the ongoing championship.

One salient feature of the knockout stage is that the points will be awarded to teams as was the case at the preliminary stage. This has been done to decide which sides are to be demoted at the conclusion of the tournament.

Thus even the semi-finals (Nov 28-Dec 1) are just as important as the last-eight matches.

The semi-finals are scheduled to be played in Sialkot and Mirpur while the title-decider will take place in Faisalabad from Dec 7 to 7.

Quarter-final schedule (Nov 23-26): Pakistan International Airlines vs Bahawalpur Stags (Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot); Habib Bank vs Hyderabad Hawks (Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur); Khan Research Laboratories vs State Bank (Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad); Sui Southern Gas Company vs Pakistan Television (National Cricket Ground, Islamabad).

Final standings

(Tabulated under: played, won, lost, drawn, points):

Group-I

PIA 6 6 0 0 52

KRL 6 4 1 1 34

Pakistan Television 6 3 2 1 28

Hyderabad Hawks 6 2 3 1 18

Karachi Zebras 6 2 3 1 15

Lahore Eagles 6 0 4 2 6

Quetta Bears 6 0 4 2 3

Group-II

Habib Bank 6 4 1 1 42

SSGC 6 3 1 2 34

State Bank 6 2 1 3 28

Bahawalpur Stags 6 1 1 4 16

Sialkot Stallions 6 1 2 3 6

Faisalabad Wolves 6 1 3 2 6

Abbottabad Falcons 6 0 3 3 3

Published in Dawn, November 23th , 2014