KARACHI: The country’s premier cricket event, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2022-2023, will begin at different venues of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday (today).
The first-class event will run until November 30. On the opening day on Tuesday, defending champions Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will face Balochistan at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium; Central Punjab will lock horns with Sindh at the Pindi Stadium, Rawalpindi; and Northern will clash with Southern Punjab at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad. After a double round engagement, the top two teams will meet in the final which will be held from November 26-30.
The country’s premier Test leggie Yasir Shah will lead Balochistan, former Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed will lead Sindh, left-handed international batsman Umar Amin will serve as Northern’s captain, Khalid Usman will captain holders KP, former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali will lead Central Punjab and right-armer Hasan Ali will captain Southern Punjab.
As per the points system, 16 points, plus all earned bonus points, will be awarded to the outright winners of a game. In case of a draw, both teams will be given five points each plus all earned bonus points. In case of a tie, eight points each will be awarded to both teams, plus all earned bonus points. If a game is abandoned, the teams will earn five points each.
A team will be given two bonus points if it wins the game after follow-on. One bonus point will be awarded to the side which wins with an innings margin. A team will get one bonus point if it saves the game after follow-on. If a team scores 200 runs in 100 overs in their first innings, it will be awarded one point. If it scores 250, it will get two points, if it achieves the 300 runs, it will claim three points.
If a bowling side takes three wickets in 100 overs it will gain one point, two points will be awarded if it gets six wickets and if it takes eight wickets in 100 overs in the first innings three points will be given.
If a bowling side gets the opposition out in their first innings for 200 or less it will secure three bowling points, if it dismisses the opposition for 250 or less it will gain two points and if it folds the opposition for 300 runs or less it will secure one point.
Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2022-23 squads:
Balochistan – Yasir Shah (c), Azeem Ghumman, Haris Sohail, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Akif Javed, Ali Waqas, Ammad Butt, Asad Shafiq, Ayyaz Tassawar, Haseebullah, Hussain Talat, Imran Butt, Kashif Bhatti, Khurram Shehzad and Taj Wali
Central Punjab – Azhar Ali (c), Aamir Yameen, Abdullah Shafiq, Abid Ali, Ahmed Daniyal, Ahmed Shahzad, Ali Shan, Hunain Shah, Muhammad Ali, Muhammad Saad, Qasim Akram, Tayyab Tahir, Umaid Asif, Usama Mir and Waqas Maqsood
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – Khalid Usman (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Adil Amin, Arshad Iqbal, Arshad Ullah, Ihsanullah, Imran Khan Snr, Irfanullah Shah, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Sarwar Afridi, Nabi Gul, Rehan Afridi, Sahibzada Farhan, Sajid Khan and Waqar Ahmed
Northern – Umar Amin (c), Abdul Faseh, Ather Mehmood, Faizan Riaz, Kashif Ali, Mehran Mumtaz, Mubasir Khan, Muhammad Huraira, Musa Khan, Nauman Ali, Rohail Nazir, Sarmad Bhatti, Umer Waheed, Waqas Ahmed and Zeeshan Malik
Sindh – Sarfaraz Ahmed (c), Abrar Ahmed, Asif Mehmood, Fawad Alam, Ghulam Mudassar, Khurram Manzoor, Mir Hamza, Muhammad Aasghar, Muhammad Umar, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saad Khan, Saim Ayub, Saud Shakeel, Syed Faraz Ali and Zahid Mahmood
Southern Punjab – Hasan Ali (c), Ahmed Bashir, Ali Usman, Hassan Khan, Imran Rafiq, Maqbool Ahmad, Muhammad Ilyas, Muhammad Imran Randhawa, Salman Ali Agha, Sameen Gull, Sharoon Siraj, Umer Siddique, Usman Salahuddin, Yousaf Baber and Zain Abbas.