The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2019-20 Schedule
First-class cricket is the foundation of development and sustenance of every cricket playing nation. All test playing nations hold these first-class tournaments, which gives an identity to the domestic cricket played in that particular test playing country.
The Quaid-e-Azam trophy is one of the biggest, historic, and the most important domestic tournament played in Pakistan.
The Quaid-e-Azam trophy is named after Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, The founder and the first governor-general of Pakistan. The First edition of The Quaid-e-Azam trophy was held in the 1953-54 season and since then the tournament has had as many as 61 editions that took place over the course of the last seven decades.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the schedule for The Quaid-e-Azam trophy 2019-20, which will be held across nine centres from September 15 to December 9.
While scheduling the Quaid-e-Azam trophy, The PCB assured that they have taken ground availability and readiness as well as the expected weather conditions towards the end of the year into proper consideration.
Haroon Rashid – The director of domestic cricket in Pakistan said on announcing Bugti stadium of Quetta as a venue for the tournament – that the resumption of active first-class cricket in Quetta is aligned to Pakistan Cricket Board’s strategic objective of reviving and taking cricket to every nook and corner of the country, also attracting local players by giving them opportunities to get closer to the established cricketers and generating interest in the region.
Venues for the Quaid-e-Azam trophy 2019-20:
- Bugti Stadium, Quetta – 4
- Abbottabad Stadium, Abbottabad – 6
- Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore – 3
- Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad – 3
- Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot – 1
- KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi – 3
- National Stadium, Karachi – 5
- State Bank Stadium, Karachi – 1
- UBL Sports Complex, Karachi – 5
In the opening round of matches which will be played from September 14-17, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Northern will go head to head at the Abbottabad stadium. Sindh and Balochistan will see each other in the UBL sports complex in Karachi. Gaddafi Stadium will host the match between Central Punjab and Southern Punjab in Lahore.
After the first four rounds of matches, the test cricket will come to a halt to make time for T20 cricket. This will give selectors the opportunity to select players that are in form for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Australia.
The Quaid-e-Azam trophy will also provide the opportunity for new talent to surface for the upcoming HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) next edition.
Quaid-e-Azam Trophy introducing no-toss rule:
This year the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is also introducing a no-toss rule for the first time in Pakistan’s domestic cricket to groom the players so that they can meet the demanding difficult challenges of test cricket. The no-toss rule will give the visiting team an option of bowling first. This will allow home sides to groom the pitches in their favour.
According to Haroon Rashid, The Pakistan cricket board’s decision of broadening the venues for the tournament aligns with PCB’s vision of promoting the game as it will attract more people towards the game with country’s leading cricketer playing in front of their eyes, and will also help in the development of the game in previously neglected region. The purpose of organizing domestic cricket is to prepare domestic players for international cricket and attract both youngsters and the fans towards the game. The upcoming season of domestic cricket will groom the domestic cricketers to deliver in different playing environments as they will travel the country and the challenge of playing at away venues is bound to get stronger mentally and be ready for the upcoming tasks that they will be exposed to at the international level.
