PCB releases Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2019-20 schedule

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has released the schedule of the biggest national cricket tournament - Quad-e-Azam Trophy 2019-20 – here on Monday.Nine centres will host 31 fixtures of the mega domestic event, to be played from September 14 to December 9, according to the schedule.While scheduling Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2019-20 fixtures, the PCB has taken ground availability and readiness as well as expected weather conditions at the backend of the year into consideration.Quetta’s Bugti Stadium will return as a first-class venue after 11 years as Balochistan will feature in all its four matches at this venue.Balochistan will play its second round fixture against Southern Punjab (September 21-24), third round fixture against Central Punjab (Sep 28-Oct 1), fifth round fixture against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Oct 28-31) and sixth round fixture against Southern Punjab (Nov 4-7).Other venues to grace the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches are:Abbottabad Stadium, Abbottabad ( 6matches), Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore ( 3), Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad (3), Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot (1), KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi (3), National Stadium, Karachi ( 5 - including Dec 9-13 final), State Bank Stadium, Karachi (1) and UBL Sports Complex, Karachi (5).In the opening round from 14-17 September, Sindh and Balochistan will go head to head at the UBL Sports Complex in Karachi, while Gaddafi Stadium will be the venue of the derby match between Central and Southern Punjab. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will lock horns with Northern at the Abbottabad Stadium.After the first four rounds, the red ball cricket will come to a halt to make window for T20 cricket. This is being done to provide the selectors with the opportunity to select in-form T20 players ahead of the crucial three-match T20I series against Australia Down Under. The First and Second XI T20 tournaments, running simultaneously, will also help the HBL Pakistan Super League franchises to spot players ahead of the player draft for the next year’s edition. To groom further the domestic cricketers for the demanding challenges of Test cricket, for the first time in domestic cricket, the PCB has decided to implement the no-toss rule, which will provide the visiting teams will an option of bowling first. This will act as a deterrent for the home sides from doctoring the pitches in their favour and compel them to prepare pitches that provide the right balance between bat and ball for four days. Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Second XI tournamentThe Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Second XI tournament will run simultaneously with the First XI tournament. The 30 group matches will be of three-day durations, while the final will be four-day fixture that will be played at Karachi’s State Bank Stadium from 26 to 29 November.The city of Mirpur in Azad and Jammu Kashmir will host four Second XI matches, starting from the second round contest between Northern and Central Punjab.The picturesque Bugti Stadium had staged its only ODI in 1996, while it hosted its 25th and last first-class match in October 2008 when the home side met the then North-West Frontier Province in a 2008-09 Pentangular Cup match.

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