President’s Cup rolls into action today

ISLAMABAD: Leading departmental teams will be seen in action in the President’s Cup 50-over-a-side cricket that springs into action at Abbottabad and Rawalpindi from today (Wednesday).

The championship will continue till May 12. Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), the winner of the four-day first-class President’s Trophy, will aim to conclude the 2023-24 season with another trophy.

Apart from SNGPL, the other six teams participating in the tournament are Pakistan Television (PTV), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), Khan Research Laboratories (KRL), Higher Education Commission (HEC), and Ghani Glass.

The seven teams will compete in a single round-robin format, with the top four sides after 21 league matches qualifying for the semi-finals. While Shoaib Akhtar Stadium, Pindi Stadium and Abbottabad Stadium will be used for the league matches, the venues of the three knock-out matches will be confirmed closer to the matches.

Ahmed Shehzad will captain Wapda, Usman Salahuddin will lead SBP, Rohail Nazir KRL, Moeez Ghani will captain Ghani Glass, Muhammad Huraira HEC, while Shamyl Hussain and Saud Shakeel will captain PTV and SNGPL, respectively. The tournament carries a total prize money of Rs2.5 million, with the winning side receiving a cheque worth Rs1.5 million along with the trophy.